Stay firm on non-communal spirit of 1971

Reiterating her call to the people to stay firm on the non-communal spirit of the Liberation War, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said people of all religious faiths would live in the country with equal rights.

"All people had collectively liberated the country, sacrificing their blood... Everyone will have the freedom of practising their respective religious rituals as we believe in this spirit and Islam also teaches us that lesson," she said.

Hasina was addressing a Victory Day discussion, organised by Awami League, at its central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital. She joined the event virtually from the Gono Bhaban.

The premier said, "People of all religions -- Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist -- will live on this soil. Being a Muslim majority country, we will not neglect other religions."

She also mentioned that Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) has given us that lesson.

"I will tell all of you that any situation has to be tackled with patience. We will only think about how much we could contribute to the country rather than listening to what others say. Then we will be able to make right decisions and do the right thing."

Hasina said the country's intellectuals were killed on the eve of the final victory in 1971 so that there was none having knowledge and qualities left to take Bangladesh forward.

The premier said she can feel the pain of those who lost their relatives as she herself lost her near and dear ones. "Many did not find the bodies of their near and dear ones after the killing of intellectuals which had begun on December 9, 1971."

After the killing of Bangabandhu along with most of his family members in 1975, many leaders and activists of AL, Chhatra League and other organisations were killed and their bodies were also not found, she added.

The PM said such torture of people is still going on. "We have seen arson attacks, militancy, and terrorism."

Thanking the party men for standing beside the people during the Covid-19 pandemic, Hasina urged the AL leaders and activists to strengthen the organisation and spread the ideology of the Father of the Nation to the mass people.

About Unesco's international award to be given in honour of Bangabandhu, the PM said the UN body announced the prize in the name of the Father of the Nation. She said the defeated forces had tried to erase his name from the history.

"I think this is a great gift for the Bangalee nation in the birth centenary of Bangabandhu," she said.

It has been decided that "Unesco-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize" will be given in the field of creative economy to promote creative industries that provide youths, women and migrants with sustainable jobs globally.

The PM urged the people to follow the health guidelines properly amid a fresh surge in Covid-19 cases.

Hasina, also the AL president, said her party's job is to serve the people and the party was providing the service which would continue in future.

On Victory Day, the PM also remembered the support and contributions of different countries and their people to the Liberation War and to Bangladesh during its post-independence period.

AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, presidium members Matia Chowdhury, Abdur Razzaque, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman, among others, also spoke at the programme, moderated by Publicity and Publication Affairs Secretary Abdus Sobhan Golap.