Gandhi Memorial School inaugurated in Bangladesh’s Noahkali district

The newly built Gandhi Memorial School in south-eastern Noakhali district has been inaugurated.

The Indian High Commission said High Commissioner Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Minister for Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader jointly inaugurated the school in the Gandhi Ashram campus on Saturday.

The school building has been constructed as a part of the Gandhi Ashram Trust (GAT) development project financed by the Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission (GHSM) of India’s Ministry of Culture.

The total cost of the project is Tk. 6.84 crores.

Upgradation of Ashram’s museum and construction of an office-cum-residence of the Secretary of Gandhi Ashram Trust are also part of the development project.

The Gandhi Ashram Trust is a philanthropic and development organisation working in Noakhali since 1946 on the basis of the Gandhian philosophy of rural development.

The Father of the Nation of India, Gandhi rushed to the region after brutal riots in late 1946 led to the death of thousands of people, and went barefoot around villages for about four months preaching his message of communal harmony and non-violence to bring an end to the disturbances.

The trust was built in his memory.

A long time Secretary of the Trust, Jharna Dhara Chowdhury was recently honoured by being awarded one of India’s highest civilian awards, the Padmashree.

The High Commissioner in his speech said “Gandhi’s teachings are as relevant today and will continue to inspire us to work for the greater good of mankind for times to come”.

“Faced as we are with the scourge of violence, terrorism, extremism, selfishness, greed, domination and environmental degradation, we need to reflect on Gandhian values.

“Distressing television images day after day point to the need for us to return to Mahatma Gandhi,” he said, adding that Gandhi stood for liberty, ethics in public life, equality and humanism.

He appreciated the development and charity works of the Trust and urged those behind it to continue working for benefit of all sections of society and spread Gandhi’s message of non-violence, peace, tolerance and communal harmony.