“The matter was taken up at a BIMSTEC meet and a proposal has been made for creating a heritage path to promote Buddhist circuit tourism involving Bangladesh, India and Nepal,” Bangladesh Tourism Corporation Joint Secretary Samena Begum said here.
She said the Somapura Vihara, a UNESCO world heritage site, is a Buddhist monastery dating from the late eighth century located at the south of the Himalayas in north-west Bangladesh.
I’m delighted to see that Bangladesh is moving to highlight its Buddhist heritage, but the greater legacy of Buddhism in Bangladesh is the Bengali Buddhist community, who are routinely oppressed by local authorities. Even better than preserving eighth century monuments is to promote Bangladesh’s Buddhist minorities and their human rights.