Hasina says she returned to Bangladesh to help people reap benefits of independence

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said she had returned to the country braving hundreds of obstacles only to help people reap benefits of the independence.

She only thought about the people of Bangladesh after losing all the family members in 1975, Hasina said at a programme in Dhaka on Saturday.
 
She inaugurated a blood donation programme, organised by Krishak League, in front of the Bangabandhu Bhaban.
 
Hasina’s father, the country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of his family members, was killed by a group of rogue army officials on Aug 15, 1975 in a military coup.
 
Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana survived the attack as they were abroad at that time.
 
At the programme, the prime minister said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed to avenge the 1971 defeat.
 
That was not an attack on a family but actually on the whole nation, she said.
 
“They wanted to ensure that the Bengali nation could never hold its head high.”
 
The killing of four national leaders on Nov 3 that year proved this truth, she said.
 
She said those leaders who fought the war and brought about the independence upon the order and direction of Bangabandhu had been killed.
 
Sheikh Hasina also recalled the incidents of 1975.
 
“I had reached Germany on July 31. I could not think about such a big attack,” she said.
 
“Just after 15 days, I lost everything in that ill-fated day.”
 

She could not return to the country though she wanted to, she said.

“The killers Mushtaq and Zia had grabbed power and I was prevented from returning to the country.”

But she finally returned to the country following people’s wish to change their fate, she said.

“Leaving behind two children, I came to the people of Bangladesh in a bid to make the country’s independence fruitful and to enable them to get the benefit of the independence.”

Sheikh Hasina survived several attempts on her life after returning to the country. 

The latest being in 2004 when nearly two dozen people died in an attack.

“I have faced death over and over again, but did not retreat. Because we know truth finally wins.”

At the programme, The Awami League president also highlighted the initiatives taken by the government in the agriculture sector.

“Ours is an agrarian country. The aim of the father of the nation was to change the fate of farmers,” she said.

“After assuming power, we have tried for overall development of the farmers. We are implementing various programmes to provide them a better life.”

She also expressed gratitude to the farmers for the role of agriculture sector in Bangladesh’s progress.

She urged Krishak League to be more organised to play a role in raising the quality of farmers’ life.