Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today urged the countrymen to stay alert so the anti-liberation forces, killers, terrorists and militants never come to power.
“On the birth anniversary of Bangabandhu, it’s my only call to the countrymen to remain careful so that the anti-liberation forces, killers, militants, the August 21 grenade attackers, arms smugglers and those who embezzled orphans’ money cannot return to power and play ducks and drakes with the fate of the people,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League (AL) president, was presiding over a discussion meeting at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre here this afternoon.
The prime minister also vowed to uphold the rights of the people by building a hunger-and-poverty-free ‘Sonar Bangla’ as dreamt by the Father of the Nation.
“This Bangladesh is Bangabandhu’s Bangladesh where we want the rights of the people to be upheld and it’s our commitment on this day that we will establish a hunger-and-poverty-free Sonar Bangla Insha Allah,” she added.
Bangladesh Awami League organized the discussion on the occasion of the 99th birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the National Children’s Day.
AL Advisory Council Members Amir Hossain Amu and Tofail Ahmed, Presidium Member Begum Matia Chowdhury, eminent educationist Professor Syed Anwar Hossain, AL Acting General Secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif, Joint Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Organizing Secretary Ahmed Hossain, former minister Advocate Quamrul Islam also addressed the discussion.
Besides, AL Women Affairs Secretary Fazilatunnesa Indira, Relief and Welfare Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, Central Working Committee Member Advocate Azmatullah Khan, Dhaka North City AL General Secretary Sadek Khan, MP, Dhaka South City AL General Secretary Shahe Alam Murad spoke.
AL Publicity and Publication Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud and Deputy Publicity and Publication Secretary Aminul Islam Amin conducted the function.
The prime minister also called upon the people of all strata including the party leaders and workers to take preparation for celebrating the Mujib Barsho.
“We’ve declared Mujib Barsho from March 17, 2020 to March 17, 2021 and formed a (national) committee to celebrate the year. I want preparation to be taken from union to every area … this preparation will have to be taken from this year’s birthday of Bangabandhu,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina, also the elder daughter of Bangabandhu, said: “The Father of the Nation gave us independence and the ‘address of our self-identity’.”
“Now we’ve to uphold that independence by building a hunger-and-poverty-free developed and prosperous Bangladesh and we have firm belief that we could do it Insha Allah,” she said.
The prime minister said Bangabandhu had thought about welfare of the common people from his school life and he worked accordingly.
“Bangabandhu’s desire to do good for the people and show them love and affection was expressed in his childhood and he had profound love for his parents,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu did whatever he wanted to do and his parents extended support to him by giving money and property.
“The name and fame of the tiny boy spread across the world as he had freed a nation from confinement and wanted it to be freed from exploitation and deprivation,” she said.
She said Bangabandhu had a dream of how he will build Bangladesh and present a beautiful life to those who were tortured and repressed frequently and who starved to death after suffering from hunger.
The prime minister said the Father of the Nation provided courage and mental strength to those people to take preparation for the liberation war.
“Bangabandhu gave language to the nation that could not speak due to immense torture and repression and he freed it from exploitation and deprivation,” she said.
The prime minister recalled that the Father of the Nation took part in the movement for creation of Pakistan. “But he launched the movement for freeing the Bangalee nation when she saw that Pakistanis are exploiting the Bangalees and wanted to snatch their rights,” she said.
Pointing out Bangabandhu’s great role in the Language Movement, Sheikh Hasina said his contributions to the movement once were lost.
Bangabandhu, she said, had initiated this movement when he was a student of Dhaka University and for this he suffered jail time and again. “But our learned people did not mention it … only a few learned persons wrote it,” she said.
The prime minister also remembered Bangabandhu’s contributions to the movement of the class four employees of Dhaka University as well as the anti-famine movement and the peasants’ movement.
Sheikh Hasina said spirit for liberating the country among Bangabandhu had started from the Language Movement in 1948.
“Since then, he advanced the movement for independence step by step … through he highlighted the exploitation and deprivation before the people and evoked the desire for independence among them,” she said.
The prime minister said when the Father of the Nation was rebuilding the war-ravaged nation and taking it to the path of economic freedom, then terrorism, militancy and division among the freedom fighters were created to thwart Bangladesh’s advancement.
She said Bangabandhu then called for a national unity, saying that economic emancipation is most important for the people. “He created a platform with the people irrespective of parties and opinions to achieve the goal,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said the Father of the Nation wanted to bring a revolutionary change in the election system. “By creating a national unity, he wanted to introduce such an (election) system so that none can spend additional money and carry out campaign personally,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu wanted to introduce it to ensure that the polls are not controlled by the money and sticks and the people posses the voting rights.
“I believe that the people of the country will realize gradually that how much the thinking of Bangabandhu about election was suitable for Bangladesh,” she said.
Had Bangabandhu been allowed to make the system effective, she added, the question about fair elections would have not been raised and bloodbath and killing have not been taken place centering the election.bss
The prime minister said military dictator Ziaur Rahman completely destroyed the politics of voting. “After grabbing power illegally and violating constitution, he staged so called ‘yes-no’ vote and presidential elections to legalize his power,” she said, adding this practice continued in Bangladesh for a long.