PM
PM greets Tigers for first ever T20 win against New Zealand
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday congratulated Bangladesh Cricket Team for their first ever T20 win over New Zealand.
Bangladesh team outplayed New Zealand by seven wickets in the first T20 played at Sher-e-Bangla national cricket stadium.
Read: Bangladesh overpower New Zealand on tricky surface
With this win, the host country is leading the five- match T20 series with 1-0.
Stay alert as anti-liberation forces conspiring against Bangladesh: Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged all to remain alert as anti-liberation forces along with their companions are still conspiring against Bangladesh taking assistance from abroad.
"War criminals, defeated forces, August-15 killers and their children are still conspiring against Bangladesh. They’re plotting against the country," she said.
Read: Bangladesh to be turned into a global aviation hub: Hasina
The Prime Minister said this while addressing a programme of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) at Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh (KIB) marking the National Mourning Day.
She joined the programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
Hasina said the evil forces are pampered by some international forces which had acted against Bangladesh’s Liberation War. "The nation must remain alert about it."
Referring to the nation-building hectic efforts of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she said the defeated forces staged the August-15 massacre when they saw Bangladesh cannot be stopped from its economic march forward. "We’ve to move forward keeping that in our mind."
Hasina said the defeated forces took their revenge with the August-15 carnage and distorted the history of Bangladesh after that, its struggle to liberation and independence.
The Prime Minister alerted all that Bangladesh has many enemies and massive hurdles in every step of its development journey.
"Our path of progress is not smooth. It’s rather full of hurdles, but we’ve to move forward overcoming all the odds and obstacles, and we’re doing that," she said, adding Bangladesh has stood out on the world stage in the last 12 years.
Talking about Ziaur Rahman and his engagement in the Liberation War in 1971, Hasina said there is no instance that Ziaur Rahman fired a single shot at the Pakistani forces.
"No one can prove that."
Read: Promote small investors: PM to BEZA
She mentioned that Mustaq, Rashid and Farooq during their interviews with the BBC admitted that Ziaur Rahman was always with them. "Zia was the source of all power (for them), he betrayed," she said.
The PM said she sometimes thinks that these people, who had always visited Bangabandhu’s house for various purposes, including personal matters, killed the Father of the Nation. “How could they do that!”
The Prime Minister highlighted the sacrifice of her mother Bangamata Fazilatunnesa Mujib saying that her mother was beside Bangabandhu throughout her life.
"My father could fully engage in the service of the country as he got such a companion beside him…this is a rare instance," she said.
Sheikh Hasina, the chief patron of BCL, asked the BCL activists and leaders to work for the country being imbued with patriotism and follow the ideals of the Father of the Nation.
Awami League presidium members Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman, BCL president Al Nahean Khan Joy and general secretary Lekhak Bhattacharjee also spoke at the programme.
At the beginning of the programme, a one-minute silence was observed to show respect to the martyrs of the August 15 massacre.
The Prime Minister, earlier, unveiled the covers of books titled ‘Matribhumi’ and ‘Joy Bangla Magazine’.
Aug 21 attack wouldn’t have been possible without then govt’s patronage: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said it was not possible to carry out an attack like that of August 21, 2004 had there been no direct patronage from then BNP-Jamaat government.
"They (BNP-Jamaat govt) thought that I had been killed (in the grenade attack), but when they came to know that I didn’t die they allowed four criminals to flee the country," she said.
She said the then BNP-Jamaat government assembled the terrorists and militants for carrying out such an attack and gave them a safe passage to flee abroad.
Sheikh Hasina made the allegation while addressing a discussion marking the August 21, 2004 grenade attack.
READ: PM mourns death of journalist Zahiduzzaman Faruk
Awami League organised the event at its Bangabandhu Avenue central office. The Prime Minister attended the event virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
"No one dared to dream that there would be arges grenade attack (on the rally) attempting to kill in broad daylight," she said.
Recalling the barbaric carnage, Sheikh Hasina alleged that then Prime Khaleda Zia and her government staged grenade attack as killings is their habit.
She said that Bangabandhu killers Dalim and Rashid were among those criminals while the other two were militant Tajul and one jailer.
After the attack, she said, police lobbed teargas shells and charged baton on AL leaders and workers instead of rescuing the victims.
Hasina said even BNP-Jamaat-backed doctors did not attend the injured AL leaders and activists at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and no patient was allowed to enter Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Medical University.
Referring to some remarks made by Khaleda Zia before the grisly grenade attack and planting of twin bombs — one of 76 kg and another of 84 kg — in Kotalipara, the Prime Minister said, “Before every attack, Khaleda Zia used to say Awami League won’t be able to go to power in 100 years. And right before the grenade attack, she said even Sheikh Hasina would never be the leader of the opposition,” she said.
The then government destroyed the evidence of the gruesome attack while an army officer faced trouble as he wanted to preserve an unexploded grenade used in the attack, she said. “They tried to erase all the evidences of the attack.”
"And all know about a staged drama by the government," she said pointing to the Joj Mia issue which was later proved false.
The Prime Minister said ruling BNP-Jamaat did not allow AL to discuss the matter in Parliament although many of the injured were MPs and she was the leader of the opposition.
She said that Almighty Allah repeatedly saved her from various types of attacks including the August 15 and August 24 to materialise something that only He knows.
Referring to the ongoing pandemic she said that the government always remains beside the people of the country as it strictly follows the ideology of Father of The Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
"Inshallah, we will be able to establish developed and prosperous Golden Bangladesh that was dreamt by the Father of the Nation," she said.
AL presidium member Matia Chowdhury, general secretary Obaidul Quader, joint secretary Dr. Hassan Mahmud, AL central working committee member Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, organising secretary SM Kamal Hossain, Dhaka South Unit of Awami League president Abu Ahmed Mannafi and Dhaka North Unit of Awami League president Sheikh Bazlur Rahman also spoke at the programme joined by senior leaders of the party.
The barbaric grenade attack was carried out on an anti-terrorism rally of Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital on August 21, 2004 during the BNP-Jamaat government aiming to wipe out the AL leadership.
READ: PM talks tough against corruption by public servants
Twenty-four people, including then president of Mohila Awami League and late President Zillur Rahman’s wife Ivy Rahman, were killed and over 500 others suffered splinter injuries in the grisly attack and many of them became crippled for life.
Sheikh Hasina, the then opposition leader, narrowly escaped the attack but sustained hearing impairment due to the impact of the repeated grenade blasts near the truck-dais of the huge public rally. AL men saved her life creating a human shield surrounding her during the attack.
PM mourns death of journalist Zahiduzzaman Faruk
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of veteran journalist and member of the Jatiya Press Club (JPC) managing committee Zahiduzzaman Faruk.
In a condolence message, the Prime Minister prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul, and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family members.
Also read: PM mourns death of AL leader Abdur Rahman
Zahiduzzaman, editor of Dainik Orthoniti ,died of cancer at his Dhaka residence at 2:30pm at the age of 72.
PM says her main goal is to fulfill Bangabandhu’s dream of building Sonar Bangla
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said her prime goal is to build a happy and prosperous Bangladesh and uplift the people by transforming the tragedy of August 15 into a source of power.
“Inshallah, Bangladesh will become a developed and prosperous Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal) free of hunger and poverty as dreamt by my father. Inshallah, that dream will be implemented,” she said.
The PM said this in her pre-recorded speech that was played at a programme on the occasion of 46th anniversary of the martyrdom of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members and the National Mourning Day.
The programme was organised by the National Implementation Committee for Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's 100th birth Anniversary Celebration.
Also read: PM vows to find out masterminds of August 15 massacre
PM vows to find out masterminds of August 15 massacre
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said the masterminds behind the August 15 massacre will also be gradually exposed in the near future.
“It was very essential to try the killers first. We’ve done it. And it’ll also come out eventually one day who had been behind the killings. And that day is not far,” she said.
The prime minister was addressing a memorial meeting arranged by Bangladesh Awami League (AL) marking the National Mourning Day and 46th martyrdom anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Sheikh Hasina, also the AL President, presided over the virtual function joining it from her official residence Ganobhaban, while other participants were connected from AL central office in the city’s Bangabandhu Avenue.
She said all of those who took part in the brutal assassination and who stood beside them (killers) or who prepared the ground for it are equally guilty.
READ: Mourning Day: PM pays homage to Bangabandhu
About the demand for a commission to find out the masterminds of the cruellest mayhem, Sheikh Hasina said things would be very clear to all from the newspapers of those days.
“We will not need to go far to find out them, if we see who criticised (the rule of Bangabandhu), who spoke (against it) and who prepared the ground. You’ve asked for formation of a commission. It is very fine. But if you read the then newspapers, many things would be very clear to all,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina, also the eldest daughter of Bangabandhu, said the father of the nation returned home on January 10, 1972, and the conspiracy against him started the same year, not giving him time to rebuild the war-ravaged country.
It takes many years to rebuild a war-ravaged country, but criticism started against him just in one year, she said.
The PM said the killings were carried out as Bangabandhu could not be detached from the mass people by spreading propaganda against him.
“Who had written those? Whom they wanted to satisfy? Who prepared the grounds of the killings?” she said.
August 15 carnage can be comparable only with Karbala:
Describing the August 15 incident as the most heinous and cruel killing in the history, she said this carnage can be compared only with the Karbala tragedy.
Sheikh Hasina said it is usually seen that only the head of the state or the premier of the government is assassinated for the state power.
“Such carnage was carried out in Bangladesh, which can be compared only with Karbala. Women and children had not been killed in Karbara. But women and children were not spared (in the August 15 carnage) in Bangladesh,” she lamented.
Noting that the conspirators wanted to exploit and deprive the people of Bangladesh for ever, she said the real revenge of the August 15 carnage would be taken when the people would get a decent life in every front, having food, cloth, shelter, education and health rights as dreamt by the Father of the Nation.
She, however, said her government has already done a lot of in ensuring the rights for improving the living standard of the people.
“My father had liberated the country. This independence can’t go in vain. It would be a success,” Hasina said adding that the benefit of this success would reach every house even in grassroots area and the people will have improved living standard.
At the outset of the event, a one-minute silence was observed in memory of Bangabandhu and martyrs of the August 15 carnage.
READ: PM mourns death of AL leader Abdur Rahman
AL general secretary Obaidul Quader delivered the welcome speech, while its presidium members Begum Matia Chowdhury, Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman, joint general secretaries Mahbubul Alam Hanif and AFM Bahauddin Nasim, religious office secretary Advocate Sirajul Mostafa and office secretary Barrister Biplab Barua, among others, spoke at the meeting conducted by its publicity and publication secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap.
PM congratulates Tigers on winning the 5th T20
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday congratulated Bangladesh cricket team on winning the 5th and last T20 by a big margin over Australia and sweeping the five-match series 4-1.
The Tigers beat the Aussies by 60 runs in the 14th over of the match at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium at Mirpur.The hosts secured the series defeating Australia in the first three matches of the series. Australia’s 3-wicket victory in the 4th match saved them from whitewash.
'Everyone to have an address’: Hasina about housing for all
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said no one in Bangladesh will remain without shelter as her government is working to ensure access to affordable housing options for all.
"Everyone will get an address," she said while distributing newly-constructed flats among 300 families, who had been living in slums of the capital.
Read:Better housing: Hasina distributes flats among 300 low income families
She handed over allocation papers of the new flats in 14-storey three buildings on rental basis. The Ministry of Housing and Public Works implemented the project at Mirpur 11.
Held at Bangabandhu International Conference Center, the Prime Minister joined the programme virtually from her official residence Ganobahban.
"This is the Bangladesh of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Everyone in Bangladesh will get a better life …that’s our aim," she said.
Hasina said she thinks that materialising the dream of the Father of the Nation is synonymous with the development of Bangladesh.
"Our only responsibility is to implement the dream of the Father of the Nation, I think that’s the development of Bangladesh," she said.
Read: PM to distribute over 53000 new homes to the homeless Sunday
Hasina said the way Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman thought about the welfare of the country and its people, no one else could do this that way.
PM's shock at passing of folk icon Fakir Alamgir
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of one of the members of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kedra, and prominent Gono Sangeet artist of the country Fakir Alamgir.
Read: Fakir Alamgir on life support
In a condolence message shortly after news broke of the singer's death, she said that the role of Fakir Alamgir will always be remembered for his contribution in the musical arena of the country, especially his role in popularisong Gono Sangeet.
Read: Folk legend Fakir Alamgir leaves the stage for the last time
She prayed for the eternal salvation of the departed soul and expressed sympathy to the bereaved family.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen , Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader and State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam also released statements to mourn an iconic figure's passing.
Momen, in a message, expressed deep shock at the death of freedom fighter and singer Fakir Alamgir.
"Fakir Alamgir was a shining star of the country's cultural arena. People will remember his contributions forever," he said.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam also expressed deep shock at the death of singer Fakir Alamgir.
He conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family members and sought salvation of the departed soul.
Fakir Alamgir, whose songs became entwined in the everyday lives of his countrymen, lost his battle with the coronavirus on Friday night, passing away in the capital's United Hospital after his condition deteriorated in the evening.
The beloved singer breathed his last at 10:56pm in the hospital's ICU, where he was receiving treatment for over a week. He was 71.
PM greets Freedom Fighters on Eid
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wednesday greeted all the Freedom Fighters (FF) of the country on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha.
Like other occasions, the PM sent flowers, fruits and sweetmeats to the war-wounded FFs and members of the martyred families at the Martyred and War-wounded Freedom Fighters’ Rehabilitation Centre (Muktijoddha Tower-1) on Gaznavi Road in the capital’s Mohammadpur area as a mark of her good wishes for them.
PM’s Assistant Private Secretary-2 Gazi Hafizur Rahman Liku, Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Jahid Tusher and Assistant Press Secretary ABM Sarwar-e-Alam Sarkar handed over these items to them this morning.
The war-wounded FFs and members of the martyred families expressed their gratitude to the PM for remembering them on every national day and festival like Independence Day, Victory Day, Eid and Pahela Baishakh.
They also expressed firm commitment to resist any act of terror in the name of religion and anti-state activities on the soil of independent Bangladesh at any cost.
They hoped that the successors of the FFs and future generations would uphold the same values and spirit.
The FFs and members of the martyred families wished the PM good health and long life, and highly appreciated her farsighted leadership.
They also expressed their firm belief that the government under the leadership of PM Hasina will ensure coronavirus vaccines for all people of the country.