Expressing her firm determination to build the Bangabandhu's dream of Sonar Bangla, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today told the parliament that Bangladesh is moving forward overcoming hundreds of obstacles, and the country will have to move forward even further.

The prime minister said this while participating in the discussion on the proposal on holding a special discussion on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the country's independence.

The proposal will be adopted unanimously on Thursday after two days of discussions.

Referring to Bangabandhu's return to his homeland after independence, his daughter Hasina said, "We were waiting for our father to come home. But we got him only after people met with him first. To him, people were above all."

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh could stand on its feet, had Bangabandhu got another 5 years for carrying out what he had wanted to do.

"If the Father of the Nation had survived, we could have reached the place within the 10 years of the country's independence, where we are today with a dignified position," she also said.

Highlighting the government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic, she said crores of people have already received vaccines. "There will be no shortage of vaccines. We will bring 80 percent of the people of the country under vaccination".

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed a proposal in the Jatiya Sangsad to hold a special discussion on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the country's independence, pledging to take Bangladesh to a dignified position by building it as a developed and prosperous country.

"In this historic moment of observing the golden jubilee of the country's independence, our commitment will be to take Bangladesh to a dignified position on the world stage by transforming it into a 'Sonar Bangla,' free from poverty and hunger, repression and discrimination, and a developed and prosperous country, overcoming all the challenges, as envisioned by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," she said.

At the beginning of the day's sitting, President Abdul Hamid gave a commemorative speech marking the golden jubilee of the country's independence with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury chairing the sitting.

In the proposal, the prime minister said, "The parliament opines that the golden jubilee celebration of the country's independence in 2021 is a glorious chapter in the national life of the Bengalis. Bangladesh is marching forward at a desirable speed. Bangladesh now appears as a 'development miracle' in the world arena".

She told the parliament that the country's independence was achieved following the path of the Language Movement from 1948 to 1952, six-point of 1966, a mass uprising of 69 under the leadership of the greatest Bengali of all time and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

His historic March 7 speech, March 25 genocide, declaration of independence by Bangabandhu in the early hours of March 26, formation of the Mujibnagar government on April 17 and the sacrifice of 3 million martyrs and 200,000 mothers and sisters led to the independence.

The prime minister said that the final victory was achieved on December 16, 1971, with the surrender of the Pakistani army.

Mentioning that the centre point of parliamentary democracy is the Jatiya Sangsad, Sheikh Hasina said that the parliament has been playing an effective role in fulfilling the aspirations of the people by ensuring transparency and accountability of the government.