On March 26th, on the occasion of the Independence Day of People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Mariupol State University hosted the meeting of foreign students of the preparatory department with third-year students majoring in International Relations. Today, 11 students from Bangladesh are studying at Mariupol State University. On this holiday, they told Ukrainian students about the history of their country and traditions of celebrating the Independence Day.

Students were told that from 1947 till 1971 modern People’s Republic of Bangladesh was a province of Pakistan and was named East Pakistan. On March 26th 1971 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, head of the largest political the Awami League which won the elections in East Pakistan declared the independence of this territory. This day also began the liberation war, which lasted nine month and at the end the army of West Pakistan was defeated. As a result of the carnage of the war for the independence jn December 16th, 1971 a new country was created and named Bangladesh. Foreign students noted that this national holiday is celebrated joyfully with parades, dances and various cultural events.

The presentation prepared by the students from Bangladesh have garnered much attention of Ukrainian students who asked many questions, in particular about the language and policy of Bangladesh.

The International Relations Office of MSU is planning to keep organizing such events to facilitate the cultural exchange between foreign and Ukrainian students.