DHAKA, Jan 9, 2019 (BSS) – Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina today said that her government would fully honour the people’s huge mandate which her party secured in the election as she issued a message commemorating Bangabandhu’s Homecoming Day 47 years ago.
“The people made Bangladesh Awami League victorious in the recent 11th parliamentary election. We will fully honour their huge mandate,” she said in her message on the eve of the Homecoming Day of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from captivity in Pakistan in 1972.
The premier added: “We will turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed one by 2041, InshaAllah.”
Mentioning that the January 10 is one of the memorable days in the history of the liberation struggle of the Bangali, Sheikh Hasina said the greatest Bangali, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, returned to independent Bangladesh on the 10 January of 1972 after over nine and a half months’ captivity in a Pakistan jail.
“The Pakistani occupation forces launched brutal attacks on the innocent Bangalis and carried out massacre on the night of the 25 March in 1971. Bangabandhu declared Independence of Bangladesh at the first hour of the 26 March,” she added.
Just after his declaration of the independence, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested and subsequently sent to a solitary confinement in Pakistani jail, the premier said, adding that he (Bangabandhu)was subjected to inhuman torture in the jail where he had been counting moments for being executed after his death sentence was pronounced in a farcical trial.
Even in the face of imminent death, he rejoiced the spirit of the Bangali nation, she said, adding “He was the inspiration of the freedom fighters. Under his undisputed leadership, the Bangali nation earned the ultimate victory waging the 9-month war”.
The defeated Pakistani rulers were compelled to free Bangabandhu, Sheikh Hasina said, adding that the Bangali Nation got back the Father of the Nation and their victory attained the fulfilment.
The premier said after his return, the Father of the Nation devoted all his efforts to rebuild the war-ravaged Bangladesh. Responding to his call, many international organizations, including the United Nations and friendly countries quickly recognized Bangladesh, she added.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh became a member of OIC in 1974. Within a short time under the charismatic leadership of Bangabandhu, Bangladesh made a strong position in the world, she added.
As Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib had engaged himself in the struggle to build a “Golden Bangladesh” reconstructing the war-torn country, the anti-liberation forces in collusion with the war criminals assassinated Bangabandhu along with most of his family members, she said.
Through the heinous killings of the 15 August 1975, they initiated the politics of killings, coup and conspiracy and obstructed the process to try the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib through promulgating Indemnity Ordinance, the PM said, adding, “They ruined the democracy by declaring Martial Law, distorted the glorious history of our independence, defaced the constitution and gagged the press freedom. The BNP-Jammat alliance government had followed the paths of their predecessors”.
“We reestablished the democracy in 1996 through a long struggle and sacrifice. Our government’s 1996-2001 tenure will always be marked as a glorious period in our national history. The Bangali nation reestablished democracy and rights of the people in 2008 through a long struggle,” Sheikh Hasina said.
Mentioning that Bangladesh has become the ‘Role Model’ of development in the world, the Prime Minister said “Our government has accomplished immense evelopments in all sectors, including economy, agriculture, education, health, transport and communication, ICT, infrastructure, power generation, rural economy and diplomatic relation and cooperation during the last ten years. We have also joined the elite club of the satellite technology as the 57th nation through the launching of Bangabandhu Satellite-1”.
“Our GDP growth rate is now 7.86 percent, the highest in our history. The poverty rate in the country has now declined to 21.8 percent, and the hardcore poverty rate stands at 11.3 percent. Our per capita income is USD 1751. Our students are getting textbooks at free of cost. The literacy rate is now 73 percent. About 93 percent people are under electricity coverage,” she said, adding that her government has formulated a hundred year plan named ‘Delta Plan 2100 for the first time in the world.
The premier urged everyone to work together for building a hunger-poverty-free and happy-prosperous Sonar Bangladesh as dreamt by Father of the Nation.
“Let us come and uphold the development and democratic spree being imbued with the spirit of the freedom struggle. Let us engage ourselves for the welfare of the country and nation,” she said.