Mr. Akku Chowdhury, Trustees of the Liberation War Museum, Professor Rehman Sobhan, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: Assalam-u-Alaikum, Namashkar, and Good Afternoon.
I am honored to be here today to take part in this celebration of the life and legacy of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Over the last few days, the response we have seen at the U.S. Embassy here in Dhaka to his passing has been extraordinary. We have welcomed Bangladeshis into the Embassy and the American Center to sign condolence books since Sunday. We were honored to host the Foreign Minister, several former government ministers, party leaders, and other distinguished men and women who came to pay their respects to Senator Kennedy.
I was particularly touched by the Liberation War Veterans who have come and expressed what Senator Kennedy’s support during the war meant at that perilous time. We have also seen young Bangladeshis, born well after the struggles of 1971, who have come to pay their respects. He will no doubt be remembered for generations in Bangladesh.
Senator Kennedy’s standing as a great political leader and master legislator has been widely praised since his passing. My father had a connection with Senator Kennedy. After WWII, my father worked in the post office in my home town for 30 years. After he retired, my father was elected to the Massachusetts state legislature. He frequently worked with Senator Kennedy for the good of his constituency. He always found that Senator Kennedy to be compassionate and willing to work with others to find the best solution to a problem.
But as President Obama and Secretary Clinton have noted, his legacy goes beyond politics. He was a voice for human rights and peace in many corners of the world. He helped bring warring parties together to find a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. He was a forceful voice for ending the apartheid era in South Africa. And of course he became a leading proponent of the Bangladesh independence movement.
As a recent report on CNN put it, in Bangladesh, Senator Kennedy is revered. When Senator Kennedy visited the refugee camps in West Bengal, he exposed the people of the United States, and much of the world, to the humanitarian disaster that was occurring for the first time. Senator Kennedy’s visit and continued support for Bangladesh independence had a great impact on public opinion and debate in the U.S. I have no doubt that his efforts lead to the early recognition of Bangladesh by the U.S.
His visit to Dhaka in February 1972 was one of the first to an independent Bangladesh by an international leader. Some of you were there when he made his famous speech at Dhaka University to the chanting of “Joi Kennedy” by a crowd of 8,000 strong. These events, as we have seen this week, bonded Ted Kennedy to the people of this country in a deep way. Senator Kennedy will live on in the hearts of the people of Bangladesh.
I am honored to be here today to hear your words and stories about Senator Kennedy’s legacy here in Bangladesh.
Thank you for inviting me to take part in this very special event. |
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