Parties urged to exercise rights to free thinking to end crisis

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FE Report Canadian High Commissioner to Dhaka Heather Cruden Wednesday expressed concern over the ongoing violence in the country and made a call to all parties for exercising their rights to freedom of expression in a peaceful and democratic manner to end the crisis. "In the lead-up to the elections, we urge all parties to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly in a peaceful and democratic manner," Heather Cruden said while speaking at a joint press briefing. The joint press conference held at Alliance Francaise was arranged to brief media about Francophonie Festival in the city. Ambassador of the Republic of France Michel Trinquier, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt Omar Shoeab, Chargé d'affaire a.i. of the Kingdom of Morocco, Mr Said Kasmi, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Switzerland, Caroline Trautweiler, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Quang Thuc spoke on the occasion. An official of the Qatar Embassy was also present. Michel Trinquier introduced the context of the Francophonie Festival: "On March 20, to commemorate the signature, in 1970, in Niamey, Niger, of the Convention creating what has become the International Organization of the Francophonie (IOF) in 2005, the Francophone community celebrates, all over the world, "the International Day of the Francophonie". The people of Bangladesh, who celebrated Ekushey and the International Mother Language Day on February 21, certainly understand what the "International Day of the Francophonie" means to Francophone people," he added. The Canadian High Commissioner said Canada's involvement in the La Francophonie reflects their linguistic duality and the importance they place on their shared values, including democracy, culture and economic prosperity. She said, "In line with these shared values, Canada endeavours to further democratic development, human rights, the rule of law and peace and security". "This programme will provide an opportunity for us to celebrate not only the French language and the rich and diverse Francophonie culture, but also its core values of peace, democracy and respect for human rights, education and development," Cruden said. From March 13 to March 22, the diplomatic missions of the seven French speaking countries represented in Dhaka, namely Canada, Egypt, France, Morocco, Switzerland, Vietnam and for the first time Qatar, a new member of the Francophonie since 2012, organise along with Alliance Française de Dhaka a series of cultural events. A football match between African Francophone professional football players and the Under-23 Bangladeshi national football team will be held at the Jagannath Hall ground, Dhaka University on Saturday. This event has been organised in collaboration with the Bangladesh Football Federation. Caroline Trautweiler announced that the organisation will hold two concerts, "Under the slogan "Alice in Wonderland" the band "Alice" from Geneva is playing together with two Bangladeshi bands, Apple Jive and Biporit in Gulshan on March 15 as well as in the Alliance Française in Dhanmondi on March 16 at 6.00pm". Several other events will mark the Francophonie Festival at the Alliance Française de Dhaka: a Francophonie Film Festival, an exhibition, a talk on French language and the second edition of the contest "Let's go to France" whose winner goes to France for 2 weeks and meet other young French speakers from all around the world. Said Kasmi said: "Movies, sports and music will surely strengthen the cultural links between the Bangladeshi audience and our respective countries."