About three decades ago, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain visited Bairagir Chala village in Sreepur upazila of Gazipur.
A long time might have passed since her journey, however, the memories of the queen are still fresh among the people of the village.
The people of the Bairagir Chala village are mourning the death of the queen of a country, that is 8,000 kilometres away from Bangladesh.
On November 16, 1983, the queen came to visit the self-reliant Bairagir Chala village.
On the occasion of her arrival, the village had been provided with electricity, the roads were paved as was the Sreepur railway station platform. New buildings and infrastructures of the UP and hospitals were constructed. At that time, Sreepur was renovated.
The village became the centre point of attention in the country at that time. Since then, the people of the village have remembered the queen with respect.
Dhaka TribuneChan Mia, 70, a resident of the village, said: "We have seen the queen. We sat down and shared stories. We didn't understand her language but the people with her explained her words to us. We were fortunate enough to have seen the queen very closely.
“She visited the pond and huts, she even saw fishes being released and fishing in the pond. She witnessed the making of hand-fried puffed rice and various types of sample materials from rural industries. We are indeed deeply saddened by her demise,” he added
On the occasion of the queen's arrival, the village became self-reliant in 1983 when Hussain Muhammad Ershad was the president.
This was Queen Elizabeth II's only visit to independent Bangladesh and then president Ershad was also accompanying her at that time. On a four-day state visit, she paid homage to the martyrs of the Liberation War at the National Memorial.
Sakhawat Hossain Khan, a resident of Bairagir Chala village, said: "The village became self-reliant in 1983. The people of the area had cows, goats, farm-filled poultry, pond-filled fish, croplands, and vegetables. They didn't import anything from outside. Originally, Queen Elizabeth II came to see this state of the village, she even visited my father Mizanur Rahman Khan’s house.”
Saleha Akhter, 70, a housewife, said: "The queen sat in the jackfruit garden to talk to the local women. The village handed over a silver key to the queen as a symbolic gesture to indicate that she could visit Bairagir Chala village any time.”
Gazipur Matri Sadan Centre, established on the occasion of the arrival of British Queen Elizabeth II, in Bairagirchala village of Sripur upazilaDhaka TribuneMasud ibn Mubarak, a local teacher, said: "The pond where Queen Elizabeth II released fish is now dehydrated due to lack of care and maintenance. The bank of the pond is also breaking down. On the occasion of the queen's arrival, the village was also given electricity connection for the first time at that time, later several factories were established in the village due to electricity.”
Queen Elizabeth, Britain's longest-reigning monarch and the nation's figurehead for seven decades, died at her home in Scotland aged 96 on Thursday.
Prior to her death, she had been under medical supervision of doctors due to her illness, revealed a statement issued by Buckingham Palace on Thursday.
