Bangladesh map, text containing Independence War, image of Lalon Shah, Nakshikantha, rickshaw, palanquin — all were in there along with multitudes of local dishes. It might seem to be a fair in Bangladesh at first sight, but it was not.

The mentioned scene was from ‘Ummatic Festival’, organised by International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Bangladeshi students of the university highlighted various cultural aspects of their country at the festival.

The Ummatic Festival was commenced on 24 November and will continue till 30 November. Students of more than 100 countries participated at the festival. Students of the participating countries are performing and uplifting their respective cultures at the festival every day.

Bangladeshi students started their performance at the university Cultural Activity Centre (CAC) at about 8:00pm in Malaysian standard time. A short documentary on Bangladesh was screened at the beginning of the fest. A chorus of 18 members from Bangladesh performed dances with the rhythm of patriotic and modern songs wearing different traditional costumes. A human-made monument was displayed at the end of the performance. Thousands of spectators from the gallery clapped and the entire hall was clamored by the roar — ‘Bangladesh, Bangladesh’.

Bangladeshi stall visitors were offered local dishes and sweets. Bangladeshi female students drew henna on the hands of foreign girls.

A Bangladeshi PhD student, Mahfujul Islam, of University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) participated at the festival. He said, ‘In a word, I’m totally overwhelmed. I congratulate the performers who have nicely uplifted our country and its culture before more than 100 countries. The human-made monument at the end of the performance was amazing.’

IIUM bachelor of business studies last year student Mahmud Khalid told NTV, ‘The Bangladesh community are working to uplift our country abroad. We’re very pleased and excited. We have tried our best to uplift Bangladesh through our performances.’