Don’t allow them to come back to power

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged all to remain alert so that anti- liberation forces and war criminals cannot return to power.

She was addressing the leaders of Awami League and its associated bodies at the Gono Bhaban marking her Homecoming Day.

On this day in 1981, then newly elected AL President Hasina had returned home from India after nearly six years in exile following the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members by a group of army officers on August 15, 1975.

Hasina said the AL has always struggled to establish democracy in the country. “Because, we believe without democracy it is not possible for a country to advance socioeconomically.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is greeted by Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader with a bouquet of flowers on the occasion of her Homecoming Day at the Gono Bhaban yesterday. Photo: PID

She thanked the grassroots AL leaders and activists to keep the organisation alive defying all sorts of conspiracies to destroy it.

The PM mentioned that the AL is currently the number one political party in the country. The party gained the people’s trust and that is why they cast their votes for it in the last national election, she added.

“The reason for this success is that the party worked for the welfare of people, for the development of the country... people realised it and that is the most important thing for a political party.”

For a political leader, it is very important to gain people’s trust and confidence, Hasina said.

She said it is quite normal for a ruling political party to lose popularity, but the AL has gained the confidence and trust of the people staying in power.

The government in the last 10 years has taken the country forward socioeconomically, reduced the poverty rate and strengthened the national economy, the PM mentioned.

Hasina, the AL president for last 38 years, said she and her family members never did anything that might tarnish the country’s image.

“We never worked for our personal gains. We always worked for the welfare of the country.”

Mentioning about her long tenure as the party chief, the PM said, “This is too much. Now time has come for you, too. I’m getting old as well.”

Recalling her Homecoming Day, Hasina said thousands of people had gathered at the airport on that day defying inclement weather.

“I might not have found my known faces on that day, but I was overwhelmed by the love and affection of thousands of people there,” she said.