Panel Discussion on Foreign Policy Visions of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
By Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN and Centre for Bangladesh Studies, UC, Berkeley
| March 1 | 11:00 a.m. (EST) | Zoom Event
_________________
TIME: 8 am (Berkeley) | 11 am (New York) |10 pm +1 day (Dhaka) | Calculate Your Local Time
REGISTRATION: REGISTER HERE
_________________
Hon’ble Foreign Minister Dr. AK. Abdul Momen, Foreign Minister, Bangladesh
Salil Tripathi, Award winning author and journalist; Thomas A. Dine, Senior Diplomat., US Foreign Services; Dr. Syed Anwar Husain, Supernumerary Professor, University of Dhaka
Dr. Sanchita B. Saxena, Director, Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies
Ambassador Rabab Fatima, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, New York
Institute for South Asia Studies, The Subir & Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations
2020 marked the birth centenary of the Founding Father of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. To honor Bangabandhu and his many contributions, the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies is pleased to partner with the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations and UNESCO on a virtual celebration of the foreign policy visions of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
In the short span of just over three years (1972-1975), Bangabandhu succeeded in securing recognition for the newly independent Bangladesh from almost all nations of the world. He also led Bangladesh to successfully bid for and join the United Nations as its 136th member on 17 September 1974. Under his leadership, Bangladesh joined all major international and regional bodies during this period, thus firmly establishing Bangladesh’s place in the world stage. This was possible because of the far-reaching and pragmatic foreign policy visions of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which is encapsulated in his historic dictum, ‘friendship to all, malice towards none.’ This doctrine continues to define the foreign policy of Bangladesh till today.
The seminar will be formally opened by Dr. A K Abdul Momen, Foreign Minister of Bangladesh. Eminent international speakers, Mr. Salil Tripathi, Mr. Tom A Dine and Dr. Syed Anwar Husain will serve as panelists. The program will be moderated by Dr. Sanchita B. Saxena of UC Berkeley, Center for Bangladesh Studies.
PROGRAM
11.00 am – 11.20 am: Inaugural Segment
Welcome remarks by H.E. Ambassador Rabab Fatima, Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, New York
Statement by Chief Guest, Dr. AK Abdul Momen, Foreign Minister, Government of Bangladesh
11.20 am – 12.10 pm: Panel Discussion
Salil Tripathi, Award winning author and journalist
Thomas A Dine, Senior Diplomat, US Foreign Services (Friends of Bangladesh Liberation War honouree)
Dr. Syed Anwar Husain, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
12.10-12.30 pm: Closing Session
Open discussion / questions & comments in the chat box
Ambassador Rabab Fatima, the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, New York, presented her credentials to the UN Secretary General on 6 December 2019. Prior to taking up her current post, she was Bangladesh Ambassador to Japan since February 2016. A career diplomat who joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1989, she has served in various Bangladesh missions including, as First Secretary in the Permanent Mission to the UN, New York (1994-1998); Counsellor, Deputy High Commission, Kolkata (1998-2000); Counsellor, Permanent Mission to the UN, Geneva (2002-2005); and Minister & DCM, Embassy in Beijing (2005). She served in various positions, including, as Assistant Secretary (UN), Director (UN) and Director General (East Asia & Pacific) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Fatima has also served in lien with two international organizations, namely, the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, as Head of Human Rights (2006-2007); and with the International Organization for Migration as the Regional Representative for South Asia (2007-2011); and as the Regional Adviser for South and South-west Asia & Regional Adviser for Climate Change and Migration in IOM’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (2012-2015). Ambassador Fatima received her M.A. in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA, and B.A. in Social Science from the University of Canberra, Australia. She is married to fellow diplomat, Kazi Imtiaz Hossain, currently serving as the Ambassador of Bangladesh to France. They have a daughter.
The Hon’ble Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen is a Bangladeshi economist, diplomat, politician and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh. He was Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from August 2009 to October 2015. He won the 2018 Bangladeshi general election from Sylhet-1 constituency
Salil Tripathi is the author of The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and its Unquiet Legacy (Yale 2016). Born in India, he graduated from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth Collegeand has been a foreign correspondent in Singapore and Hong Kong and until recently lived in London. An award-winning writer, Salil is based in New York, and his work has appeared in major newspapers around the world. His essay on the Chuknagar massacre during the 1971 war won the Mumbai Press Club award for human rights journalism. He chairs PEN International’s writers in prison committee. His other books include Offense: The Hindu Case (Seagull 2009) and Detours: Songs of the Open Road (Tranquebar 2015). His next book is about the Gujaratis, which Aleph will publish in late 2021.
Thomas A. Dine, after more than a half century career in American foreign policy, including several leadership positions, is now in the midst of writing his memoir as well as staying involved in affairs affecting Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia. His career began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines, 1962-1964, followed by a master’s degree in South Asian history. He went to Washington as the youngest congressional liaison in the Johnson administration. Next stop was the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, as personal assistant to Ambassador Chester Bowles for two years. He spent a decade in the U.S. Senate assisting Senators Frank Church (D-ID) regarding anti-Vietnam and pro-Bangladesh liberation legislation, Edmund Muskie (D-ME) on the Senate Budget Committee, and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in his effort to gain the Democratic nomination for president. For his efforts in 1971 to stop American arms to Pakistan, the Government of Bangladesh awarded him a “Friends of Liberation Honour” in a ceremony in Dhaka.
Dr. Syed Anwar Husain joined the Department of History, University of Dhaka as Lecturer in 1970. He became Professor in 1985; and was retired in 2014. He is now serving as Supernumerary Professor. He was Chairman of the Department of History from 1993 through 1996. Between 1997 and 2001 he was Director General of Bangla Academy, the premier research body in the country. He served as Vice-Chancellor of Darul Ihsan University (Private) between 2004 and 2005. He was the founder editor of daily sun (2010-2012). He received first class Honours and Masters degrees in History (standing first in both) from the University of Dhaka. As a British Commonwealth scholar he took an M.A. Senior Honours degree in International History from the University of Edinburgh; and was awarded Ph.D. in British Administrative History by the University of London. Professor Husain was a visiting faculty at the Columbia University, Pennsylvania University, and American University (Washington, D.C.) and a Scholar-in Residence at the Rockefeller Foundation Study and Conference Centre, Bellagio, Italy. Between 1987 and 1988 he was Senior Fulbright Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.
Sanchita B. Saxena is the Executive Director of the Institute for South Asia Studies (Institute) at UC Berkeley and the Director of the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies under the Institute. She is also a lecturer of responsible business at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Dr. Saxena is the editor of Labor, Global Supply Chains, and the Garment Industry in South Asia: Bangladesh after Rana Plaza (Routledge, 2020) and author of Made in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Sri Lanka: The Labor Behind the Global Garments and Textiles Industries (Cambria Press, 2014). She has been a Practitioner Resident at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy and a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. She currently serves on the BRAC USA Advisory Council. She frequently gives invited lectures and publishes commentaries in the popular media. Dr. Saxena holds a PhD in political science from UCLA.
_________________
Like us on FACEBOOK
The event is FREE and OPEN to the public.
Event is free and open to the public.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Registration opens February 12. Register online by March 1.
isas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3608
ISAS Staff, isas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3608