The Australian High Commission in Dhaka on Tuesday night celebrated the achievements of women in sports at an event marking the national day - Australia Day.
Leading Bangladeshi sportswomen in badminton, swimming, shooting, weightlifting and archery, as well as members of the BKSP women’s team, attended the event at the Australia High Commission. Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni was the chief guest, said a press release of the High Commission.
High Commissioner Jeremy Bruer in his speech said: “We celebrate their achievements as champions of women’s empowerment, and role models for millions of women and girls across Bangladesh.”
The High Commissioner described Australia Day as an occasion on which to celebrate modern, multicultural Australia. At the same time, it was a day on which to interrogate and reflect upon the country’s 60,000-year-old history and to acknowledge indigenous Australians’ fundamental place in Australia’s story.
Australia Day is held on January 26, the date on which the first British settlers arrived to colonize the country in 1788. It’s a painful anniversary for hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Australians, marking the start of years of killings and dispossession, and many refer to it instead as Invasion Day, according to Bloomberg. Australia is the only former British colony to celebrate the start of colonization as its national day.
