Bangladesh to invite Pranab Mukherjee to special parliament session

Bangladesh will invite former president Pranab Mukherjee to address a special Parliament session on March 22 and 23 to mark the Mujib Year, coinciding with its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary. Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari will also be invited along with Mukherjee.

"The President (Abdul Hamid) is set to send the invitation letters to the two dignitaries to address the special parliament session on March 22 and 23 to mark the Mujib Year," a presidential palace spokesman told newsmen. The announcement came after parliamentary speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury called on the president this evening.

A parliament secretariat spokesman said this would be the third such instance when foreign dignitaries would address Bangladesh's parliament. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman served as the first President of Bangladesh and later as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from April 17, 1971 until his assassination on August 15, 1975.

He is considered to be the driving force behind the independence of Bangladesh. He is popularly dubbed with the title of "Bangabandhu" (Friend of Bengal) by the people of Bangladesh. His daughter Sheikh Hasina is the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.