Prime minister Sheikh Hasina — Focusbangla photo
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday censured Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia for stepping onto the Central Shaheed Minar during placing wreath their on Tuesday.
‘How Khaleda Zia along with her party leaders stepped onto the main altar of the Shaheed Minar where the president, the prime minister and the speaker placed wreaths….She might be insensible at midnight but what about the other leaders,’ Hasina said at a discussion at Krishibid Institution of Bangladesh in Dhaka.
The ruling Awami League organised the discussion to mark Ekushey February and
the International Mother Language Day.
Presiding over the discussion, Hasina said that how the people would expect rich culture from those who had burnt people for going to power.
She said, ‘How can they realise the dignity of our culture, language and literature, as Pakistan is still in their minds? They do not know how to pay respect.’
Asking the young generation to learn the history of the Language Movement, the prime minister said, ‘We have to know the history. One who does not know the history and the past cannot be a Bengali in the true sense.’
Portraying the long glorious history in realising the demand for establishing Bangla as a state language of Pakistan, Hasina recalled the contributions of the martyrs with deep respect.
She also recalled the country’s founding president Shekh Mujibur Rahman saying that he had led the nation from Language Movement to country’s War of Independence.
‘Awami League has the contribution to every achievement of the country,’ she said.
She alleged that attempts were made to turn the country into a failed state through the assassination of Sheikh Mujib along with his family members.
‘Besides attempts to destabilise the country, attempts were made at times to distort Bangla language,’ she said.
She called on the students to learn Bangla first then other languages for their better careers.
Deputy leader of the parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury said that the Awami League was a pro-people party that worked for the welfare of the people.
The leaders and activists of the party were involved in every movement of the country, she said.
Party advisory committee member Amir Hossain Amu, also the industries minister, said that the first revolution against the then Pakistani rulers was initiated on February 21, 1952.
He called on the people to support Awami League for the establishment of the spirits of the Ekushey February and to continue the development.
Another advisory council member Tofail Ahmed, also the commerce minister, demanded that the United Nation should recognise Bangla as an official language of the international body.
The Awami League will observe March 25, as genocide day, Tofail said.
AL presidium member Matia Chowdhury, also the agriculture minister, demanded the use of Bangla in every sector of the government.
Khaleda Zia and her party leaders tarnished the image of the language day in the first hour of the Ekushey February, violating the rules which were obeyed at the Central Shaheed Minar, Matia alleged.
Dhaka University professor Syed Anwar Hossain called on the government to take more steps to introduce Bangla in every sphere of the government.
He also called on the students to learn more languages including English, focusing on Bangla first.
Cultural activist Ramendu Majumder said that the spirit of Ekushey was to establish a secular democratic country.
He called on the government to take steps to stop use of religion in the politics as the religious extremists and communal forces were spreading in the country.
Poet Nirmlendu Goon recited his poems in the programme.
AL Another presidium member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim and academic Merina Jahan also spoke.
Source: New Age
