A promise
During the closing days of Sheikh Hasina's first administration, 1996-2001, a novel Tk. 10/- note printed in some sort of plastic was introduced as it was supposed to be longer lasting and did not become dirty quickly as paper notes did. It carried Bangabandhu's portrait.
Soon, she was succeeded by her old antagonist's party in 2001 and they quickly took steps to wipe out all traces of anything good that the previous government had done. This was In line with the working of all the democratic governments we have seen so far. Amongst the casualties was the Tk.10/- plastic note. It started disappearing and being replaced by a paper one that is still current. The polymer Bangabandhu note has not been seen for quite a while.
Sheikh Hasina was naturally and quite rightly peeved at this pettiness and lambasted the administration for stooping so low. In many gatherings she made it a point to give this example to prove how mean and small-minded this action was.
In one such programme that I saw on TV, perhaps in 2002 or 2003, she was very vehement about it all and requested her countrymen to foil this attempt at Bangabandhu's denigration by retaining these notes. She pledged that when her party came back to power, no matter when, these Tk 10/- notes would be redeemed for Tk. 100/- each as a reward for those who would invest in these notes.
I, and I am sure many others, have retained these notes now for over 6-7 years and await the day when this pledge will be honoured.
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