PM: Keep close watch on children

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged everyone – parents, teachers and government officials – to keep close watch on their children and monitor their movement to prevent them from getting derailed. “People of this country are pious, but not bigots. I simply cannot understand why the children of these pious people who are receiving education from reputed institutions, good schools and colleges, and English medium ones are turning bigots,” she said. The prime minister was delivering her speech during two separate videoconferencing events with people of 32 districts in Dhaka, Mymensingh, Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions from her official residence Ganabhaban, reported UNB. Hasina said authorities need to figure out how the culprits are misguiding meritorious students. “We don’t want these students to lay down their valuable lives, getting derailed from the right path.” She requested the parents to provide names and addresses of their derailed or missing children to the government so that appropriate steps could be taken. The prime minister also asked public servants to find out the culprits who are trying to derail impressionable young people. “We must resolve this situation – we will have to take our country to the path of development. We must accelerate our socioeconomic development, and I believe we can overcome this situation,” Hasina said. Reiterating her resolve not to allow the emergence of militancy in the country, the prime minister said the government does not want any recurrence of the incidents that happened recently. “We won’t allow any sort of emergence of militancy in the country, we don’t want Bangladesh to be the land of militancy… we will have to take measures keeping this view in mind.” She said some unwarranted incidents have been taken place in Bangladesh and it has to be dealt with strongly. “Bangladesh has been marching ahead so fast under the current government! And this might have triggered jealousy in some quarters. Many don’t like to see such development of the country, they want to stop the development. This pace of development, I think, has prompted a conspiracy against our country.” She also urged the nation to stay alert against the design of the evil forces to malign Islam. Referring to the two recent militant attacks in Gulshan and Sholakia, the prime minister said Islam does support barbaric acts like that. “It is their attempt to malign Islam, which always speaks for peace and fraternity,” she added. "Those who are doing this are putting Islam in question. Islam is a religion of peace, and they are putting this religion into question. They are undermining the religion, they are maligning the religion before the whole world.” The prime minister said if such militant activities continue to happen, it will cause losses to the country, its economy and trade and businesses. Laying emphasis on fighting militancy in a coordinated manner, the prime minister called for constituting committees to find out militants and the missing young persons, and foiling any organised threat by militants. The prime minister also urged people to remain careful about the safety and security of the foreigners working in various development projects. The prime minister mentioned that the government would take necessary steps to combat militancy, while law enforcement agencies will take their own steps. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan were present at the programme, among others.