MICHAEL JOSEPH MARTIN ONLY ARMENIAN LEFT IN DHAKA

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.04.2009 14:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Michael Joseph Martin is guarded about his exact
age and reluctant to accept he will be the last in a long line of
Armenians to make a major contribution to the history of Bangladesh.

Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, was once home to thousands of migrants
from the former Soviet republic who grew to dominate the city’s trade
and business life.

But Martin, aged in his 70s, is now the only one left, AFP reports.

"When I die, maybe one of my three daughters will fly in from Canada
to keep our presence here alive," Martin said hopefully, speaking
broken Bengali with a thick accent. "Or perhaps other Armenians will
come from somewhere else."

Martin came to Dhaka in 1942 during World War II, following in the
footsteps of his father who had settled in the region decades earlier.

They joined an Armenian community in Bangladesh dating back to the
16th century, but now Martin worries about who will look after the
large Armenian church in the city’s old quarter.

"This is a blessed place and God won’t leave it unprotected and uncared
for," he said of the Church of Holy Resurrection, which was built in
1781 in the Armanitola, or Armenian district.

Martin – whose full name is Mikel Housep Martirossian – looks after
the church and its graveyard where 400 of his countrymen are buried,
including his wife who died three years ago.

"I’ve seen bad days before, but we always bounced back. I am sure
Armenians will come back here for trade and business. I will then
rest in peace beside my wife."