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BSS-32
PM-BANGAMATA-BIRTHDAY-2-LAST
Noting that Bangamata always stood beside the Father of the Nation, the prime minister said that Bangamata sacrificed her entire life going beyond her personal desires and demands.
“My father had gotten scope to work completely for the welfare of the country and its people as my mother never annoyed him (Bangabandhu) regarding the familial matters,” she said.
“My mother set an example for others in terms of sacrifice as nothing can be bigger than sacrificing oneself going beyond personal desires and demands,” Sheikh Hasina added.
In this connection, the prime minister called upon the womenfolk to nourish the ideals of Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib in their lives to make a family, an organisation and the country as beautiful ones.
“My mother always used to encourage Bangabandhu in doing politics for the people and never cared about her own interests … she never thought what she would get in her personal life,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina reminisced that Bangamata even saved every single penny which she got from her father’s assets and handed over those to her husband (Bangabandhu) to do politics.
“Alongside looking after the family affairs, Bangamata used to take care of the families of the detained and ailing leaders and arrange their treatment,” she said.
Recalling the sacrifice of Begum Mujib in her whole life for the people of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina said, “Bangamata always led a simple life like the common people of Bangladesh and taught us it, even when Bangabandhu was in the office of the prime minister after independence.”
She said her mother never stayed at the Ganabhaban as she didn’t want that her children lead a lavish life, adding, “My father and mother had taught us to take steps looking on the ground instead of upper realizing the situation of those who were comparatively in bad situation than us.”
Mentioning that Bangamata stood beside Bangabandhu even on the day of his (Bangabandhu) assassination, the premier said, “My mother passed away as a perfect companion of my father … my mother did not beg for her life.”
“She (Bangamata) didn’t want to live, telling the killers with courage you had assassinated my husband and I want to go there and she was killed at that place by the assassins,” she said
The premier continued: “She (Bangamata) upheld the ideology of my father rightly and sacrificed herself bearing the same ideology. But, the anti-liberation force killed the noble lady brutally on the fateful night of 15 August 1975.”
Sheikh Hasina said Bangamata even used to serve the families of the detained leaders in their economic hardship, children’s education and illness when Bangabandhu was in prison.
“Bangamata, standing beside Bangabandhu, established rehabilitation centres for the women who were violated and tortured during the Liberation War,” she added.
BSS/AHJ/SH/16:35 hrs