As Bangladesh celebrates 45 years of independence, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged all citizens to remain united to take the country further ahead and uphold the dignity it has earned so that no one in the world can neglect Bangladesh.
“We’ll continue to build this country. We’ll not lag behind anymore. We’ll continue to go ahead,” she said addressing an Independence and National Day rally of children and youths.
The prime minister attended the rally at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka yesterday after she paid tribute to the martyrs of 1971 Liberation War at the National Memorial at Savar and at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s mural at Dhanmondi.
She emphasised that the children will have to build them up as worthy citizens and patriots to become the future leaders of the country, which she said will be a developed one in 2041.
Hasina also tried to infuse in the children her confidence in strengthening Bangladesh’s
position in the international arena.
“Children, always remember that we achieved our freedom through the War of Independence. We are a nation of victors. We’ll build our country in a way so that it can gain respect across the world,” she said.
At the time, she detailed her government’s initiatives for the education system’s
improvement.
The prime minister told children to prepare to be the future leaders. “(Once) you will be ministers, prime ministers. You will run the country. So you need to prepare for that.”
She highlighted the oppression of the people of the then Bengali-majority East Pakistan by the West Pakistan rulers after independence from the British rule.
Hasina said: “We, the Bengalis, of this soil would be oppressed and deprived of our rights. Our children did not get the opportunity to study as there were inadequate number of schools and colleges. They did not have access to higher education and could not have two meals a day.”
“Our resources used to be plundered (by Pakistani rulers),” she added.
The prime minister highlighted the role of the Bangabandhu in realisation of the rights of
Bengalis.
She took salutes from the students of different educational institutions.
Meanwhile, Jatiya Party chairman H M Ershad said politicians had failed to resolve their differences and it was something that was holding back the country.
After placing wreaths at the National Memorial in Savar marking the 46th Independence Day yesterday, the former military dictator said the country was yet to reach its desired goals even after 45 years of independence. “Bangladesh is lagging behind because of political conflicts,” Ershad told reporters after paying tributes to the 1971 War of Liberation heroes.
Referring to the recent incidents of extremism, Ershad said he would choose to term those terrorist activities. “I do not get the term extremism. Whatever happening or have happened in the name of extremism are terror acts. These acts are being described as extremism,” he said.
At a discussion later in the day, the Jatiya Party chief said democracy now exists in the country in name only. “This is because the existence of democracy is at stake. We want security, a corruption-free society and adequate jobs for all in an independent country but killing and abduction have instead become regular phenomena. The society has faced degradation at all
levels,” Ershad said.
Urging all to be united in their efforts to let people enjoy what it means to be an independent nation, he said: “A consensus cannot be reached between anti-liberation forces and real nationalists. Jatiya Party upholds the spirit of the liberation war and that is why all need to be united under this party.”