Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Saturday urged the people to give her party, the Awami League, another chance in the next general election to help establish Bangladesh as a developing country, saying if anti-liberation and corrupt forces come to power again, they will destroy all the advancements.
“I am grateful to the people as they voted us into power time and again and give us scope to serve them. The next general election is knocking at the door. I wish that the people would give us another chance to establish Bangladesh as a developing nation as the country will start its journey as a developing nation in 2026. We have taken preparation to this end,” she said while exchanging greetings with a cross-section of people on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr at her official residence, Ganabhaban.
“I am really very happy to meet you on the holy day of Eid-ul-Fitr as you people are my near and dear ones and relatives of my soul,” she said, adding that she has got the love and affection of her parents and brothers from the masses after losing them on August 15, 1975.
The prime minister said Bangladesh has got recognition as a developing nation due to the continuation of a democratic process in the country and stability since 2009.
Bangladesh, she said, has witnessed such a huge socio-economic advancement as the people voted the Awami League into power in the 2008, 2014 and 2018 elections consecutively.
“I am expressing my gratitude to Allah and the people of Bangladesh for voting the Awami League into power time and again and giving us to serve them,'' she said.
Sheikh Hasina said she loves the country and its people like a mother, adding that she has been working relentlessly to bring smiles to the faces of distressed people by changing their fates, giving them a beautiful and improved life by ensuring all the basic needs as envisioned by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The prime minister however urged the countrymen to remain alert against war criminals, the corrupt and "grenade attackers as they are out to destroy the advancement of Bangladesh."
“The country and all of its advancement will be ruined if anti-liberation elements, war criminals, killers, grenade attackers and corrupts are voted into power again. So the countrymen should remain alert,” she said.
She hinted at the involvement of the BNP-Jamaat clique in recent fires at different markets and asked the authorities concerned to conduct a thorough investigation into them.
She also urged all people, including the business community, to pay special attention to protecting their houses and business establishments.
“Those who can burn people to death can do everything,” she said.
She reminded everyone that the Awami League is a servant of the people and it always serves the people.
“I feel proud being a daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Premiership is nothing to me,” she said, adding that she considers power as a means of serving the people.
The prime minister said this year's Eid trips were easy and peaceful due to massive infrastructure development that included roads, highways and bridges, especially the Padma Bridge.
She welcomed the people who went to their native villages to share the joy of Eid with their near and dear ones, saying people are now enjoying Eid in villages in a pleasant way as her government has ensured electricity supply to every household.
The prime minister urged people to maintain good relations with their neighbours and stand by the poor and needy.
She also asked her party men to stay beside the people in their time of need.
The prime minister reiterated her call to the countrymen to bring every inch of arable land across the country under cultivation so that the Russia-Ukraine war cannot create any crisis.
“We have to grow food for ourselves and export surplus food to other countries. We have already started exporting vegetables to other countries,” she said.
The prime minister first exchanged Eid greetings with the people of all strata of life.
Later, she exchanged Eid greetings with her cabinet colleagues, judges, cabinet secretary, chiefs of the three military forces, foreign diplomats, senior secretaries, secretaries, and other civil and military officials with ranks equivalent to secretaries.
The program could not be held in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
