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Hiroshima Peace and Culture Foundation
Speech by Her Excellency
Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Hiroshima Intl. Conference Center, Japan, Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Professor Tsuoshi Nara, Mr. Japan Bangladesh Friendship Association Mr. Hiroshima Peace and Culture Foundation Excellencies, ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalamu Alaikum and Good Afternoon to you all.
I am pleased to be here with you this afternoon. I thank you and the organizers for inviting me and my delegation to this reception. This is my second visit to the historic city of Hiroshima. Earlier on today when I visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial I was suffused with the same feeling which I experienced during my first visit here in 1997. I felt the same sense of humility and sadness for those hundreds of thousands who had perished on that fateful day of 6th August 1945. It was a day never to be erased from human history. It was a day when from the peaceful blue skies descended a cataclysm that changed the course of our destiny. The Hiroshima Day is remembered today worldwide with remorse and anguish by all peace loving people of the world. I salute the thousands for their sacrifice and pray for the eternal peace of their departed souls. Today, I also observe with an immense sense of human pride and marvel at the rebirth of the shinning city of Hiroshima, out of its rubble and ashes. The same is my feeling for Nagasaki that saw an identical fate, soon after Hiroshima. The first ever use of the two nuclear devices heralded a new era of destructive weapons with a capacity to end human civilizations and our planet, our dear Mother Earth. Indeed, the sacrifice of those who have perished did not go in vain, for this sacrifice has flagged the imperative need of restraint of the use of such destructive power for the resolution of conflicts. As Bangladesh was born out of the blood of as many as three million people in 1971, our experience could not be different. Moved by the magnitude of our tragedy, the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman enunciated his doctrine of "Friendship towards all and Malice towards none." He abhorred the use of force to settle any international and bilateral disputes and rejected the idea of interference in the internal affairs of other states. Thereafter Bangladesh began a series of commitments to the UN Charter, to all protocols related to disarmament, to CTBT, the NPT, to human rights and anti-terrorism. The horror of Hiroshima is a constant reminder to urge for the pursuit of peace. Thus, the Hiroshima Day is observed all over the world, including in Bangladesh. Our peace loving people deeply respects the Hiroshima peace process, gathering under: "Mayors for Peace Cities" to consolidate Bangladesh's unwavering support for Japan in building a nuclear free world. We are always ready to work with Japan towards reducing nuclear stockpiles, within our respective regions, aiming ultimately for a denuclearized world. We also support Japan on the issues of human rights, democracy and socio-economic development, neglect of which could easily ignite conflicts and wars. In our efforts in favor of global peace and stability, both Bangladesh and Japan have always worked closely to respect the provisions of the NPT which in 1970 made a solemn pledge "to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control." As we do, I remember "The Russell-Einstein Manifesto" of 9 July 1955 in London, the last line of which read, "Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you can not, there lies before you the risk of universal death." The leaders of the world, especially those in charge of those deadly nuclear devices, need to remind themselves of the thought provoking words of two of our wisest. Truly, they need to stand at least for once before the Hiroshima Memorial to fully absorb the implications of what they yield - the ability to obliterate the world and all it nourishes. I bow my head once again in humble honor of those who perished in Hiroshima. I also wish that those who live and stand here as well as those around the world recognize their ultimate sacrifice, by pursuing the path of love and peace. I thank you all.
Khoda Hafez Joi Bangla, Joi Bangabandhu May Bangladesh Live Forever Long Live Bangladesh - Japan Friendship. ...... |