London Correspondent: Anwar Aldeen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) met the Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfar Rahman at his office in London on Wednesday.
They exchanged views on ongoing transition of democracy in UK-Bangladesh relation and development of Bangladeshi community in London.
“Our expectation is that the fundamental rights of the common people in Bangladesh—such as freedom of expression, law and justice, education and healthcare—should not be hindered or discriminated anyway,” the London Mayor said after meeting with Aldeen, whom Lutfar noted as “the award-winning journalist having his unique contribution in investigative journalism.”
In the meeting, the London Mayor expressed hope that the practice of democracy in Bangladesh would be further strengthened with people’s voting rights consolidated through free and fair elections.
Anwar Aldeen, also the joint editor of Daily Ittefaque, lauded contribution of Lutfar Rahman, the first elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, the capital of the Bangladeshi community in Britain, to the progress, education, leadership development and social participation of the British-Bangladeshi community.
Lutfar had created history as the first non-white elected mayor of the UK. He is the Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets Borough of London, having population of about 350,000, the third largest economic region in the UK, with an economic value of about 40 billion pounds and.
This area is home to the modern business city of Canary Wharf, as well as historical structures like Bangla Town and the Tower of London, which have taken London’s culture, heritage and economic importance to unique heights.
In the last three years since taking office for his third term, Mayor Lutfar has implemented several innovative public welfare programs — some of which are firsts in the UK and praised widely.
Mayor’s Strategic Advisor (Ethnic Media) Muhammad Zubair, Head of Media in the Mayor’s Office George Robertson, Policy Advisor Sean Henry and other officials welcomed Anwar Aldeen, who was accompanied by BNP Central Committee International Affairs Secretary Anwar Hossain Khokon, young entrepreneur and academic Dr. Md. Ataur Rahman and community leader Bappi Hossain.