bdnews24.com New Delhi correspondent
New Delhi, Sept 11 (bdnews24.com)—The Tripura government is building a nearly Tk 47 million museum and memorial park dedicated to the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh at Chottakhola in Belonia sub-division.
The state government of Tripura decided to build the museum along with a memorial park and develop the area as a tourist spot as a mark of respect to the freedom fighters.
The memorial park will have a statue of Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and a tower from which parts of Noakhali and Feni districts will be visible.
Chottakhola, 130 kilometres away from Agartala, had served as one of the most important camps of the liberation warriors in Tripura.
Foreign minister Dipu Moni is likely to visit the northeastern Indian state of Tripura at the fag end of next month to lay the foundation stones of the museum and memorial park.
She is also expected to visit the site at Sabroom in southern Tripura, where the government of the tiny Indian state plans to build a bridge over Feni to connect to Chittagong Port.
The Tripura government had invited Moni to visit the state on Sept 15. But the foreign minister told Jitendra Choudhury, the industries and commerce minister of Tripura, that she could not embark on the trip this month due to certain preoccupations, including a tour to the United States.
Choudhury told journalists in Agartala, the capital of Tripura, that Moni had told her over telephone that she had received the invitation from the Tripura government and might visit on Oct 25 or 26.
"There were 11 war fronts in Tripura in 1971 and Chottakhola was one of them. A large number of liberation soldiers were trained in Chittakhola and they later sneaked into Bangladesh to fight Pakistani Army," said Badal Choudhury, the finance minister of Tripura and a local leader of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Chief minister of Tripura, Manik Sarkar, and officials of the state government had last month visited the site of the proposed museum and tourist site. Some officials of the Bangladesh Visa Office in Agartala had also accompanied Sarkar during visit to the Chottakhola.
Sarkar had been in Dhaka on March 26 on an invitation from Moni to join the Independence and National Day.
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