Great alliance of humanity

GBNEWS24DESK//

Edward M Kennedy Jr was emotional, feeling the presence of his father when he touched the banyan tree that the then US senator Edward M Kennedy planted on Dhaka University campus 50 years ago, as a symbol of freedom and democracy.

The tree was a replacement for the one that was blown up by the Pakistan army, as the Bangalee students would gather there and demonstrate against Pakistan’s tyranny.

“My father thought something needs to be done. Political dissent and discourse were important. He hoped the new tree will come as a symbol of friendship between the people of the US and Bangladesh, as well as a tribute to those who struggled for independence,” Kennedy Jr said.

He was speaking to the students, academics and civil society groups at the Nabab Nawab Ali Senate Bhaban, after taking a tour of the campus in the morning yesterday, on the third day of his eight-day visit to Bangladesh, marking the 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

His wife Dr Katherine “Kiki” Kennedy, daughter Dr Kiley Kennedy, his son Teddy Kennedy, niece Grace Kennedy Allen and nephew Max Allen are also accompanying him.

They visited the Lalbagh Kella and walked the streets of Old Dhaka, and are scheduled to visit Bangabandhu Memorial Museum and Liberation War Museum and go outside Dhaka to see the countryside.

After 50 years, the tree grew strong and stands tall to become a beacon of resilience and hope that Kennedy Jr thinks is similar to that of the US-Bangladesh partnership.

“In planting the tree, my father said, the real foreign policy of the US is citizen to citizen, friend to friend, people to people — that no tyranny can diminish. For an essence, we are all Bangalees … we are all Americans and we all share the great alliance of humanity.”

“So, let’s work to realise the great opportunities that the next 50 years of partnership will bring,” Kennedy Jr, also a lawyer and former state senator of Connecticut, said.

When the Nixon-Kissinger circle sided with Pakistan, whose armed forces and collaborators massacred hundreds of thousands of Bangalees during the nine-month war in 1971, the then senator Edward Kennedy was one of the few American politicians who stood up and called the atrocities committed by the Pakistan army a genocide.

During his 50 years of service at the US Senate, his initiatives led to the enactment of over 300 legislations to address people’s lives, healthcare, education and disabilities.

He was always willing to cross the party line because he had very progressive views on various issues including human rights, justice and inequality.

Edward Kennedy had a tremendous track record of collaborating and was the champion of human rights in many countries, including North Ireland, South Africa and Brazil. He sponsored 130 refugee-related bills, believing in humanitarianism and justice for all.