On the picture Dr. Dilruba Nasrin spouse of the Ambassador of Bangladesh, Jan Hoekema Mayor of Wassenaar with Sheikh Mohammed Belal Ambassador of Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh community in the Netherlands got the opportunity to observe Bengali New Year, what they call Pohela Boishakh, this year on 18 April 2015 with a kind of festivity never seen before.
Not only a crowd of about 500 people of Bangladesh origin turned out to join the celebration, a good number locals including Mr. Jan Hoekema, Mayor of Wassenaar and members of diplomatic community, media, academics, civil society etc also joined the event. Apart from the Netherlands, Bangladeshis from Belgium, Poland, Germany, among others, also participated in this mega festival.
Bengali New Year, as they call it Pahela Baishakh or Naba Barsha, in Bengali, is the first day of Bengali calendar. It falls on 14th of April every year as per the Gregorian calendar.
The day is celebrated in Bangladesh and in the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Jharkhand, Orissa and also in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos etc. The day is an occasion to bid adieu to the past year and welcome the New Year with joy and happiness. A new beginning of hope irrespective of the barriers of caste, religion and regional differences.
The residence of Bangladesh Ambassador, what is known as Bangladesh House, in Wassenaar was beautifully decorated with motifs, balloons, festoons, posters, banners to beam an aura of Bengali culture befitting the day.
A cultural troupe from Bangladesh performed with song, dance, recitation of poems and mini drama. Local artists, with experience in the Bangla culture, also performed in the event. All Bangladeshis, on a sunny spring day, adorned specialized colorful Bengli dresses while ladies with colorful sarees and mehendi tattoos made a mini Bangladesh where children roamed with their faces painted in Bangladeshi flags and other traditional New Year motifs.
The high point of the day was performance by Bangladesh folk maestro Ms. Momtaz Begum, who is also a member of Bangladesh parliament. Performance of Momtaz was greeted with thunderous applause and jubilation. The crowd erupted into dance when she performed to sing folk music of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, MP, who was visiting The Hague as leader of Bangladesh delegation to the Global Conference on Cyber-security (GCCS 2105), was present as Chief Guest in the festival.
In his statement Mr. Ali urged all nationals of Bangladesh to live in their country of residence imbued with the spirit of liberation. He also advised them to contribute to their nation building as, according to him, this is the high time to invest and doing business with Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister also acknowledged continued support and assistance from the Netherlands since independence of Bangladesh in 1971.
In this biggest gathering of the Bangladesh community in the Netherlands, the officials of Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives from different government and non-government organizations, universities, local elites and media were also present. Besides, the Ambassadors of China, Japan, India, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan attended the programme.
Ambassador Belal, while welcoming all with new year greetings, informed the audience that unlike some other festivals, the Bengali New Year is more about simple celebrations of the rural roots. The day has deep rooted sentiments for well being of the hard working people like farmers and traders. This day is also considered auspicious for starting new ventures and businesses. So, this symbolizes the entrepreneurship spirit that is deeply engrained in our culture. Something like business DNA among the Dutch.
Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal and his wife Dr. Dilruba Nasrin greeted all guests and served them with traditional Bangladeshi cuisine. Earlier all foreign guests were greeted with colorful bangles and forehead motif by colorfully dressed Bangladeshi girls. Local vendors put up stalls to serve Bangladeshi cakes and other cuisine to the visiting participants.
