Rickshaw, one of the traditional vehicles of Bangladesh, has been recognized as a cultural heritage by UNESCO.
The United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization officially announced the recognition through a post on its X account, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday afternoon.
This decision was taken at the 18th meeting of UNESCO's International Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage (Intergovernmental Committee on Intangible Heritage) in Botswana, South Africa.
In the meeting, Bangladesh Ambassador to France and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to UNESCO Khandkar M. Talha and Second Secretary (Politics) of Bangladesh Embassy in France Walid Bin Quashemwere present.
They presented arguments and facts in favor of making rickshaws and rickshaw paintings of a cultural heritage.
Earlier, BaulSangeet in 2008, Jamdani Saree in 2013 and MangalShobhajatra in 2016 were included in UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. In 2017, the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization UNESCO declared ShitalPati of Bangladesh as a World Heritage Site.
This year the application form of 'Dhaka Rickshaw and Rickshaw Painting' was submitted to UNESCO through Bangla Academy. It was officially recognized on Wednesday.
Director General of Bangla Academy and eminent Poet Muhammad Nurul Huda said, “Bangladesh has been working for the recognition of rickshaw as a UNESCO cultural heritage for last three years. The final application was made in January this year’.
