Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday greeted the country, Bangladeshi expatriates, and people of the world on the occasion of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and National Children’s Day.
In a message, she said National Children’s Day was announced in dedication to Bangabandhu on his birthday on March 17, 1920.
The premier paid her deepest homage to the Father of the Nation and all the martyrs of August 15, 1975.
Bangabandhu was very affectionate to children and from his childhood, he was fearless, indomitable, brave and kind, she said, adding: “Bangabandhu was conscious about politics and people’s rights.”
Hasina also said his key aim was to liberate the Bangali nation from the shackles of subjugation and ensure a developed life by making people free from the curse of hunger, poverty, and illiteracy.
She mentioned the leadership values of Bangabandhu started flourishing from his school life and he gradually became the last resort of the repressed people of Bangladesh in realizing their rights.
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1948-52 Language Movement, the United Front elections in 1954, the anti-Ayub Movement in 1958, the 1962 Education Movement, the Six-Point movement in 1966, the Agartala Conspiracy Case in 1968, the Mass Upsurge in 1969, the 1970 General Elections, and the 1971 Liberation War were carried out under the undisputed leadership of Bangabandhu and we got an independent-sovereign Bangladesh, said the prime minister.
She furthermore said when, overcoming all obstacles, Bangabandhu was going ahead to build “Shonar Bangla”, but he along with most of his family members were assassinated, and the country’s progress was halted.
After 21 long years, Awami League formed the government in 1996 with the people’s mandate and started the trial process of the Bangabandhu killing.
The nation was freed from stigma by implementing the verdict of the Bangabandhu murder case, she added.
Since 2009, the Awami League government has been working restlessly to enhance the fate of people and Bangladesh has already achieved tremendous progress in socioeconomic indexes, she said.
Bangabandhu formulated the Children Act in 1974 and made primary education mandatory.
The Awami League government formulated the National Children Policy-2011 and Children Act-2013 and Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017.
The government will observe the national and international children days with various programs for the welfare of street children and children with special needs.
Hasina said her government is committed to turning the country into a safe land for children and it has been distributing textbooks among students on the first day of every new year.
About 100% of children are now going to schools, she said, adding: “We are publishing books for children on the life and works of Father of the Nation and the real history of the Liberation War was incorporated in textbooks.”
“By ensuring the equal rights to children, our main aim is to build a beautiful future for them. To this end, the role of parents, families, and society is very important,” Hasina added.
“Let us sacrifice our present for the welfare of the country’s future leaders, as dreamt by the father of the nation, together,” she said, calling upon all to stop violence against children and repression against them.
