DHAKA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the mausoleum of 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Tungipara in Bangladesh's southwestern Gopalganj district and paid floral tributes to him.
Prime Minister Modi was received at the mausoleum by his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, who is the daughter of Rahman. Sheikh Rehana, the youngest daughter of Rahman was also present. PM Modi, who was covering his face with a mask, paid floral tributes to 'Bangabandhu' and stood in silence for a few minutes while Hasina and her Cabinet colleagues offered 'Fatiha'.
He is the first Indian dignitary to ever visit Bangabandhu's grave. He signed the visitors' book at the mausoleum complex and planted a sapling at its premises. India's prestigious Gandhi Peace Prize 2020 was conferred on Bangabandhu this week.
It was for the first time that the award was given away posthumously. Modi earlier said Bangabandhu was a champion of human rights and freedom, and a hero to Indians as well. Rahman was imprisoned in Pakistan, which was forced to set him free on January 8, 1972.
He returned to Dhaka on January 10, 1972. He later took over as Prime Minister of Bangladesh but was assassinated by some military officers during a coup d'etat on August 15, 1975. His wife, brother, sons and daughters-in-law were also assassinated along with him.
Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana survived as they were in Europe. Modi, who is visiting Bangladesh on his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus, on Friday attended the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the country's independence, the birth centenary of 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka.