No offenders to be spared
Reaffirming that the ongoing drives against corruption, militancy and drugs will continue, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said she will not spare anyone, no matter who the offender is.
“I won’t spare anyone, no matter who they are. I won’t have any sympathy for them because I work hard day and night for the people of the country,” she said.
Hasina said this while addressing the 7th National Congress of Bangladesh Awami Jubo League, the youth wing of the ruling Awami League, at the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan.
She said the young generation should be groomed with the spirit of dedication and the wellbeing of the country and its people.
“Our young generation will have to stay away from drugs, terrorism, militancy and corruption,” Sheikh Hasina said.
Pointing at the Jubo League activists, Hasina said those who do politics for the welfare of the country and its people, rising above self-interest, become successful.
Since the establishment of Jubo League in 1972, she said, it has been making huge contributions to every movement and struggle, including the movement against military dictators.
“This Jubo League will have to be developed carefully so that it doesn’t earn any bad name, and rather can move forward with ideology and respect to work for the welfare of the country,” the PM said.
She asked the activists of the Jubo League to nurture the ideologies of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She suggested that they read two books – “Oshomapto Attojiboni” (The Unfinished Memoirs) and “Karagarer Rojnamcha” (Diary in Jail) -- to know his ideologies.
“We will always have to move forward upholding his [Bangabandhu’s] ideologies,” said Sheikh Hasina.
She said Bangladesh has become the role model of development by following the path of the Father of the Nation.
Earlier, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of Awami League, inaugurated the triennial national council of Jubo League by hoisting the national flag, and releasing pigeons and balloons at the venue at 11:00am.
AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader also spoke at the inaugural session of the council, which was presided over by Jubo League convener Chayan Islam. Jubo League General Secretary Harunur Rashid placed the organisation’s report before the council.
Some 28,000 councillors from 77 organising districts across the country joined the national congress.
Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni formed the Bangladesh Awami Jubo League on November 11, 1972, at the directive of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The PM said the AL was not established suddenly as it was developed through various struggles to materialise the rights of those who were repressed, exploited and deprived.
Every associate body of the party was also established for the welfare of the people, making the country’s independence meaningful and taking the benefits of the independence to the doorstep of the people, she said.
“If anyone is deviated from this ideology, he or she cannot give anything to the country,” she added.
The PM further asked the young generation to work with patriotism to build the country.
Coming down heavily on the BNP-Jamaat regime, Hasina said Bangladesh had lost its dignity throughout the world due to their misrule.
She further said that they (BNP) are now saying many things about polls, but they had gotten only 29 seats in the 2008 general election.
“No one raised questions about the 2008 election. If BNP is so popular party, why had they secured only 29 seats then?” she asked, adding that many people have forgotten that.
Hasina said the BNP Chief Khaleda Zia, who is now in jail after being convicted for graft, was now being compared with Nelson Mandela.
“I think this tarnishes the image of Nelson Mandela. Because, Nelson Mandela had been in jail for struggling for independence of his nation, not for corruption.”
About employment, Hasina said her government is now setting up 100 economic zones across the country where jobs will be created as local and foreign entrepreneurs are investing there.
The government is also providing training and knowledge to the young. She highlighted measures taken by the government for the development of the young generation.
“No one will remain unemployed in this country,” the PM asserted.
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