Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia to stop celebrating her ‘fake birthday.’
She came down hard on Khaleda on Wednesday at a programme marking birth anniversary of Hasina’s youngest brother Sheikh Russel, who was assassinated on Aug 15, 1975 along with many family members.
“The leader of the Opposition celebrates her false birthday on Aug 15. I urge her to refrain from doing so,” she said.
The Awami League chief asked Khaleda Zia to celebrate her birthday on the date of birth as declared in her registration of the school.
File Photo
In a choked voice Hasina said, “When she cuts the cake that day I feel that she is plunging the knife into my heart. The face of my dear Russel comes to my mind.”
“I wonder how she celebrates her birthday, cutting cake on the day Russel was killed. I request her to stop this false festival.”
A class IV student of University Laboratory School, Sheikh Russel was killed along with his father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other members of the family at their Dhanmondi 32 residence. Sheikh Hasina remained unharmed as she was abroad.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia celebrates her birthday the same day, but other dates have also been mentioned as her birthday.
Khaleda’s father Eskander Majumder’s home was in Feni, but she used an address of Dinajpur where she was born. Her mother was Toyaba Majumder.
She was widely criticised for celebrating her birthday on the day Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated.
Sheikh Russel was born on Oct 18, 1964. The killers did not spare him. The army personnel shot Russel after taking him to the first floor of their residence, saying that he was being taken to his mother.
Reminiscing, Hasina said, “The flower withered before it bloomed. I wish such an incident does not recur in Bangladesh.”
The Prime Minister became emotional while talking about her little brother.
She said Russel was meritorious since childhood. He was a captive held by Pak authorities along with his mother during the 1971 liberation war.
Russel dreamt of joining the Army. But his dream did not materialise, Hasina said.
She went on, “I took him in my lap at the moment he was born. He was a sweet baby with a head full of hair… I don’t want such a heinous incident to recur. I don’t want crime anymore.”
“We want safety for every child.”
Sheikh Russel Shishu Kishor Parishad organised the programme at the Bangabandhu International Conferene Centre.
Source: Bd news24
