Sheikh Hasina turns 72 on Saturday

September 28 is a special day in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s life — it is the day she was born.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 Sept 2019, 06:06 PM
Updated : 27 Sept 2019, 06:06 PM

Now on an eight-day official visit to the US to attend the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly or UNGA, she will turn 72 on Saturday.

The ruling party Bangladesh Awami League, its affiliates, different social, cultural organisations, her supporters and well-wishers have drawn up a raft of programmes, including special prayers at mosques, across Bangladesh to celebrate the party president’s birthday.

AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader has urged the people to offer special prayers for her on the occasion of the birthday.

He also requested the party leaders and activists of all the districts, metropolis, upazilas, municipalities and unions to take up similar events simultaneously to celebrate the day.

Hasina, who left the country on Sep 23 to attend the UNGA, is expected to return home on Oct 1.

The daughter of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib was born at Tungiparha in Gopalganj on Sept 28, 1947.

The eldest among Bangabandhu's five children, Hasina married nuclear scientist MA Wazed Miah in 1968. They have two children - son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and daughter Saima Wazed Hossain, nicknamed Putul.

The Awami League has formed government thrice with Hasina as prime minister. In 1996, Hasina returned the party to power 21 years after the assassination of Bangabandhu.

She started her career as a politician when she was a student of Eden Women's College in the 1960s. She was elected vice-president of the Eden College Students' Union in 1966-67 as a Chhatra League candidate.

She was general secretary of the Chhatra League's Ruqayyah Hall unit when she was a student of Dhaka University.

During the Liberation War in 1971, she was in captivity along with her mother, sister Sheikh Rehana, and youngest brother Sheikh Russell.

She and Rehana were abroad and escaped the Aug 15 carnage in 1975, in which almost all members of their family were killed.

Barred from entering Bangladesh for a long time, Hasina was elected president of the Awami League in absentia in February 1981. She returned home on May 17 the same year.

She spearheaded the Awami League's successful campaign along with other political parties and alliances to restore democracy in 1990.

She again headed the party's movement to bring down the BNP government and win the 1996 parliamentary elections.

The Awami League will celebrate Hasina's birthday in a festive atmosphere.

As a part of the central programmes, a discussion to be presided over by AL Presidium Member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury will be organised at the Krishibid Institution at 3:30pm on Saturday.

Apart from Milad and Dua Mahfil across the country, a special prayer for the prime minister will be held on Saturday morning in the Merul Badda International Budda Bihar in Dhaka, Mirpur Baptist Church and Dhakeshwari National Temple.

On the day, the party affiliates will organise a host of programmes including rallies, processions, discussions, and photo exhibitions across the country, including Dhaka.