Photo: PID
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina alleged that at a time when people were at peace and comfort, some people are thinking of usurping power over dead bodies, ‘which is very inhumane’.
He hopes that those who are doing such destructive work will come to their senses. Urging them to refrain from vandalism and participate in the democratic process, he said, “Let people have faith and trust.”
Sheikh Hasina said, “I do not see such inhumanity anywhere else, as those who think of coming to power by killing the people and laying them on the dead bodies. It amazes us even to think about it. So we want peace.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Minister said these things in a speech given at the reception organized on the occasion of Armed Forces Day 2023 at Senakunj in Dhaka Cantonment.
He said, “When people were a little peaceful, at ease, seeing a little hope and moving forward, this fire-terror, strikes, blockades are disrupting people’s lives again. Throwing in a panic. That is the most difficult thing.”
Pointing out that his government is dealing with one challenge after another, the Chief Minister said, the way we dealt with Covid-19, then various kinds of trouble started from time to time, starting from fire-terrorism. My question is why ordinary people are burned to death?
“Burning these common people, setting fire to buses, wasting state resources, what is the reason for this? It still doesn’t make sense to me.”
Commenting that everyone wants peace in Bangladesh, he said, “Peace is not only within the country, we want peace regionally and globally.”
Highlighting Bangladesh’s foreign policy as ‘friendship with all, enmity with none’, the prime minister said, at least I can claim this, so far we have been going with this foreign policy. We have made arrangements to bring back our refugees by maintaining friendly relations with everyone, regionally friendly relations with our sea border, our land border, mountain peace agreement. We managed to do it smoothly. Even the enclaves we were able to exchange peacefully. So Bangladesh is a country of peace.
He said, the Awami League government included women members in the armed forces after coming to power in 1996. The women members of our country have made a lot of reputation in the UN peacekeeping mission.
Highlighting the discussion with the UN Secretary General, Sheikh Hasina said, she (UN Secretary General) expects the inclusion of more women members of Bangladesh in the peacekeeping mission.
“This is the most exciting thing for us. We have been able to increase the empowerment of women and the working capacity of women. No strata of society will be left behind.”
He said that the government is working to change the fate of all classes of people, starting from hijra, bede, leprosy patients. They are being provided free housing, livelihood and income earning opportunities by the government.
The development of the government is not limited to the capital only, but not limited to the construction of flyovers, metrorails or Karnaphuli tunnels, it has been able to spread to remote areas. The entire Bangladesh is being developed. So that every villager can get all the facilities of the city while sitting in the village, said the head of government.
He said, people’s purchasing power has increased, employment is being widely created. As a result, the image of Bangladesh has become brighter all over the world today.
Mentioning that the peacekeepers of Bangladesh engaged in the UN peacekeeping mission have been praised in different countries of the world, he said that this made his chest full of pride. He prayed for the forgiveness of souls of those who sacrificed their lives while working in the peacekeeping mission.
The Prime Minister said, this country is ours, our armed forces stand by the people in case of any natural calamity or any kind of calamity. Even though it is a country with limited resources, Bangladesh rushes to wherever there is a disaster, stands by the people and our armed forces play a role there.
By recalling the tragic chapter of 1975 including Bangabandhu’s assassination, Bangabandhu said, “I have lost my parents, my brothers, and I have nothing left to lose.” There is nothing to gain. Since my father has struggled all his life for the people of Bangladesh, we want to take Bangladesh forward.
“In 2020 we celebrated the birth centenary of the father of the nation and the golden jubilee of independence in 2021, when Bangladesh got the status of a developing country. That is what we announced in the 2008 election manifesto and by working accordingly we have been able to achieve this goal.”
He said, our journey as a developing country will start in 2026. We have already started working on the plan so that we can do this journey in 2026 well. No one can stop this unstoppable progress of Bangladesh. That is my only goal.
Sheikh Hasina said, our armed forces are always active and strong in fighting for peace. We are building it as that strong.
“We don’t want war with anyone, we want to live in peace. But we must always keep in mind that we must be properly prepared to protect our country from foreign attacks, to protect our independence and sovereignty. Our armed forces will always be ready to protect the freedom and sovereignty of our country.”
Besides, he thanked all concerned by mentioning that the armed forces are making proper contribution in changing the destiny of the people of the country.
He said, it should be remembered that our armed forces were formed during the liberation war. We won the war. Therefore, as a victorious nation, we want to walk with our heads held high in the court of the world.
Sheikh Hasina said, we will build a smart Bangladesh by 2041. Our boys and girls will learn education and become skilled people. That is Smart Population, Smart Government, Smart Economy and Smart Society. By 2041, this is how we will build and move Bangladesh forward.
