Rochdale Celebrates Bangladesh Independence Day

Rochdale celebrated the 38th Bangladesh Independence Day with the raising of the flag outside the Town Hall.

Close to 100 people gathered on the steps of the famous building as the flag was raised to honour Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Rochdale's Mayor Robin Parker and Councillors William Hobhouse, Mohammed Sharif, Keith Swift and Farooq Ahmed were all in attendance at the event which was organised by Rochdale's Bangladeshi community.

Councillor Mohammed Sharif said: "As the Cabinet Member responsible for community cohesion I was delighted to see so many people of different faiths and backgrounds gathering outside the Town Hall to celebrate this important day for our Bangladeshi community. The event was well attended by both representatives of the Council and the Rochdale community which is pleasing to see. It is important that Rochdale celebrates its diversity in ways such as this which bring people of different cultures together."

Councillor and Mayor Elect for 2009 Keith Swift who will be visiting Bangladesh at the end of April said: "I was pleased to be able to attend the raising of the flag today. Rochdale has a large, proud Bangladeshi community and events such as these show their importance to the Rochdale Community as a whole. I will be visiting Sylhet in Bangladesh at the end of April with representatives of the Rochdale Bangladeshi Partnership Project which I am very much looking forward too. Sylhet currently struggles with providing career advice and support for the younger members of their community and I will be speaking to the Mayor about the possibility of funding a careers officer for Sylhet."

Paul Rowen MP said: "Unfortunately I wasn't able to make today's celebrations due to parliamentary commitments but I was delighted to see our Council celebrating Bangladeshi independence with the raising of the flag. Events like these are the reason that, when I was leader of our council, we received beacon status for community cohesion. Only two weeks ago we celebrated St Patrick's Day with the raising of the Irish Flag and in April we will be celebrating St George's Day at the Town Hall. These events just go to show what a great diverse community we have here in Rochdale."