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The flag-off ceremony of Abhijatri’s forthcoming women’s winter expedition 2024 was held at Liberation War Museum in the capital on Friday.

Abhijatri, an organisation for mountaineers, in association with Liberation War Museum, will send five women mountaineers for three mountain peaks of the Himalayas in the Langtang region of Nepal on December 21.

The expedition is jointly supported by MasterCard Bangladesh and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.       

Led by country’s first woman to climb Mount Everest Nishat Mazumdar climbers Yasmin Lisa and Tahura Sultana Rekhan with trekker Arpita Debnath and Mousumi Akter Ap will participate in the expedition with the slogan of Sultana’s Dream Unbound- celebrating ‘Sultana’s Dream’, the renowned women empowerment literary work by Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain.

Sultana’s Dream has been listed in the memory of the world regional register for Asia Pacific by the UNESCO. 

The flag-off ceremony was moderated by Tropa Majumdar, while trustee of the museum Mafidul Haque delivered the welcome speech.

Head of the communication of UNESCO Dhaka office, Nusrat Amin and MasterCard Bangladesh manager Syed Mohammad Kamal were present at the ceremony as guests.

‘Rokeya’s work started to be practised in the 60s. After the War of Independence, she became an icon of women’s liberty in Bangladesh. The expedition will carry the slogan of her activism,’ said Mafidul Haque. 

Nusrat Amin said that women expeditors would carry the Sultana’s dream, also the dream of Bangladeshi women, and the expedition would inspire the country’s women.

Syed Mohammad Kamal said that expeditions needed mental and physical strength.

‘We hope they will win and come back safely. We want to celebrate their achievement.’

Nishat Mazumdar said that two trekkers would aim to reach the base camp and the other two climbers would plan to reach summits of three mountains, including Naya Kanga Peak, which is 5,844 metres high.