On May 27, 2025, the Algerian Embassy in Dhaka commemorated the National Day of the Algerian Muslim Scouts, which coincides with the Anniversary of the martyrdom of Mohamed Bouras, founder of this patriotic and educational movement, who was executed in 1941 by French colonial forces.
The ceremony was attended by diplomatic, religious and business figures, members of the Algerian community and a delegation from the Bangladesh Scouts, who took an active part in the event. After the raising of the colors, tribute was paid to the martyred scouts with a minute’s silence, the recitation of the Fatiha and a prayer.
Addressing the audience in his speech, Ambassador Abdelouahab Saidani stressed the importance of this Day, instituted by presidential decree in 2021, to honor the memory of Mohamed Bouras and the deeply patriotic heritage, contribution and sacrifice of the Algerian Muslim Scouts. He recalled that while the World Scout Movement was founded in 1907 by Baden-Powell to train young people in citizenship and responsibility, in Algeria the Movement very soon took on a national and militant dimension. Created in 1936 under the name of Al-Falah, the Scouts Musulmans Algériens (Algerian Muslim Scouts), structured from 1939 onwards, became a veritable school of patriotism and resistance. Under Bouras’s impetus, they contributed to the emergence of key figures in the War of National Liberation, including Larbi Ben M’hidi, Ahmed Zabana, Didouche Mourad, Zighoud Youcef, Mohamed Boukhris and Debih Cherif. The Ambassador also highlighted the current contribution of the Movement, with over 77,000 active members, in the fields of education, community development and public service. Finally, he praised the fraternal participation of the Bangladesh Scouts, underlining the opportunity to establish promising cooperation between the two Scout Movements, notably through exchanges, joint training and mutual visits.
The Director of the Bangladesh Scouts, Mr Swapan Kumar Das, for his part, paid tribute to the sacrifices of the Algerian Scouts and expressed the wish to establish an active partnership between the two friendly nations, Algeria and Bangladesh. Two young scouts then shared a vibrant message of international solidarity, illustrating the universal bond that unites young scouts around the world.
The ceremony concluded with a relevant video documentary screening, followed by group performances presented by the Bangladeshi scouts in the Chancellery. This moment of contemplation and fraternity revived the legacy of martyr Mohamed Bouras and the Scout ideal of service, sacrifice and cooperation between the two fraternal countries.