27 July, 2017

Press Conference Held and 1971 Memorial Unveiled by the British Council

The British Council held a press conference at its Main Premises in Fuller Road, Dhaka. Following the press conference, the British Council unveiled a memorial in honour of eight police guards, who gave their lives protecting British Council on 25 March, 1971.

Sir Ciarán Devane, Chief Executive; Mark Stephens, Regional Director, South Asia; and Barbara Wickham, Director Bangladesh were among the panelists at the press conference.

The conference highlighted the purpose of Sir Ciarán Devane’s visit - to understand the broad portfolio of work focused on the youth population and its impact both in Bangladesh and the UK. The central focus of Sir Ciarán Devane’s programme was to see first-hand the progress of the British Council’s priority areas in Bangladesh, which took him across Dhaka to meet with a variety of partners across Education, Society and the Arts.

In the conference, Sir Ciarán Devane highlighted the global cultural relations work of the British Council and the positive relationship it fosters between Bangladesh and the UK. 

The unveiling of the memorial following the conference was aimed at highlighting the sacrifice made by eight Bangladeshi security guards who died while protecting the British Council’s premises during the Black Night of 1971. The memorial also aspires to serve as a poignant reminder of the British Council’s commitment as a cultural relations organisation through the different periods of a country’s history.