Dhaka: A 31-year-old government official yesterday became the first Bangladeshi woman to climb the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.
"Nishat Majumdar hoisted the Bangladesh flag at the Everest peak yesterday morning... she was accompanied by M.A. Muhith" who scaled the peak for the second time in two years, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told Gulf News.
Majumdar, an accounts officer of the state-run Dhaka Water and Sewerage Supply Authority (Wasa), climbed Everest two years after Musa Ebrahim conquered the peak, becoming the first Bangladeshi mountaineer.
Climbing effort
Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club (BMTC) officials said Muhith and Majumdar set their feet on Everest's 8,850-meter-high summit from the northern side of the mountain in Nepal at 9.30am Bangladesh time. Plan Bangladesh, an NGO that sponsored Majumdar's trekking, in a statement said her climbing effort was dedicated to the Plan Bangladesh's global campaign — "Because I am a Girl" to be launched officially around the world on the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11,
BMTC founder Inam-al Haque said Majumdar was also the first Bangladeshi woman to have conquered three Himalayan peaks higher than 6,000 metres.
She conquered the Himalaya's Mera Peak (6,653.78 metres) in 2007, Singchuli Peak (6,501 metres) in 2008 and Makalu Peak (8,493.3 metres) in 2009.
Wasa officials said Majumdar is an accounts officer of the state-run utility service and the second child of her parents.
Success
Ebrahim is the first Bangladeshi who conquered Mount Everest on May 23, 2010, while Muhith followed his footsteps a few months later.
Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina has congratulated Majumdar on her success.
This year two Bangladeshi girls are heading towards the mountain to scale Mount Everest as another Bangladeshi girl, Wasfia Nazreen, has already reached the Everest base camp and has started her campaign to conquer the seven summits in the world.
