Bangladesh can never budge from its founding principle of secularism: Sajeeb Wazed Joy

Bangladesh can never budge from its founding principle of secularism, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ICT advisor and CRI chairperson Sajeeb Wazed Joy.

He made this remark today at the Joy Bangla Youth Award conferring ceremony, organised by Young Bangla. "Whatever religion we belong to, we are all Bangalis," he said.

Connecting to Joy Bangla Youth Award 2020 event from the US, he said the Covid-19 induced restrictions resulted in holding the award giving ceremony online, a testament to making the pledge of Digital Bangladesh a reality, a press release by the Centre for Research & Information (CRI) says.

Referring to the young champions of change who were conferred with this award for transforming lives in their communities, Sajeeb Wazed said, "Each time I look at you, I feel inspired."

"We harbour a culture of complaining. But, look at these youths who chose not to complain. Rather, they are harnessing their merit and giving their best to solve problems they observed in society. Instead of pinning their hope on someone else, they came forward to advancing the country through their leadership," he added.

"Those who are awarded here and those not -- I congratulate both. This is because the dream Bangabandhu dreamt of was to take the country forward. You carried out that task," he further said.

"When we see the death toll due to the Coronavirus, it is quite high in many developed countries, [but] the death toll in our country is low. Not a single death is expected, though! … They didn't pay heed to their doctors' advice. But we did," he added.

Observing that the country's economic growth is still on the rise despite the Coronavirus pandemic, the PM's ICT advisor said, "Many developed countries suffered significant economic losses. But, we are still progressing owing to the leadership."

Joy Bangla Youth Award has been awarded to 30 youth-led organisations that turned around lives and brought about positive changes to the country and society.

Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, announced the award-winning organisations through a virtual ceremony launched by Young Bangla, the youth front of ruling Awami League's research wing CRI.

CRI Trustee Nasrul Hamid attended the virtual session, conducted by Dr Nuzhat Choudhury. The certificates, crests, and laptops will be dispatched to the awardees. Apart from them, top nominees will also receive certificates.

Young Bangla set off on November 15, 2014, to directly incorporate the young generation in the country's development activities geared towards 'Vision 2021'. The organization, carried forward by 50,000 volunteers and 315 organizations, consists of nearly 3,00,000 members.