India's Congress party reviving plan to mark golden jubilee of Bangladesh's Liberation War

India's Congress party is actively considering reviving a six-month-old plan to mark the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh Liberation War.

The party, whose government under the leadership of Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister had played a huge role in Bangladesh's independence in 1971, set up a committee headed by defence minister AK Antony in December last year with Praveen Davar as its convener.

Other members of the committee include former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Prithviraj Chavan, Jitendra Singh, Kiran Choudhry, Uttam Kumar Reddy, Major Ved Prakash and late President Pranab Mukherjee's daughter Sharmishtha Mukherjee, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

"The Congress President has approved the formation of the committee to plan and coordinate the activities of the Indian National Congress to commemorate the historic 50th anniversary of the Bangladesh Liberation War won in 1971, which holds testimony to the special relationship between our two countries," a statement by Congress signed by party general secretary KC Venugopal had said then.

The main opposition party was planning to commemorate the event in May this year but had to put it off due to the devastating second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

However, with the disease on the decline for the last few weeks, the Congress is now thinking of holding the event in July before the possible third wave of the pandemic sets in, party sources said.

The then Pakistan army Chief Gen Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, along with his 93,000 troops, surrendered to a joint command of Indian army and Muktijoddhas in Dhaka on December 16, 1971, bringing to an end the nine-month-old Liberation War.