Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the countrymen to be vigilant so that anti-independence, murderous and arson terrorists never return to power. He made this call at a civic reception given to Bangladeshi expatriates in the United States in the lobby of the Riz Carlton Hotel in Washington. “Ensure that murderers, anti-liberties, war criminals never return to power,” he said. The Prime Minister said that the BNP-Jamaat alliance had burnt many people and uprooted thousands of roadside trees in the name of the so-called movement from 2013 to 2015 to oust the current government. He reminded the countrymen that this cycle took the country to the brink of destruction whereas the Awami League government has taken various steps to ensure the overall development of the country in the last 14 years and has put it back on the highway of development. He said, ‘Bangladesh will move forward and become a developed and prosperous country as dreamed by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. We are working to realize this dream. The Prime Minister strongly criticized the BNP-Jamaat alliance for using the advantages of Digital Bangladesh to spread anti-state propaganda at home and abroad. He said, we have built digital Bangladesh. BNP-Jamaat alliance is using the advantage of Digital Bangladesh to spread propaganda against us. He also urged not to listen to these propaganda. The Prime Minister reminded the countrymen and said that Bangladesh got independence in exchange of the blood of millions of people. He said, everyone should walk in the world with their heads held high and with proper dignity. Summarizing the various steps taken by his government to ensure the overall socio-economic development of Bangladesh, he said that the government has ensured the development of every sector including infrastructure, healthcare, housing, education and employment creation. He said, we were able to do this because Awami League is in power.
Awami League is a people-oriented party and it was formed to establish the rights of the people, he said, “Awami League always works for the welfare of the people.” People’s fortunes change whenever a party comes to power.’ He also said, ‘Whenever Awami League comes to power, the country develops. We have made Bangladesh a developing country and are determined to make it a developed and prosperous state.’ Referring to the contribution of expatriates to the development of the country, he said, “Expatriates have contributed a lot to the development of our country.” The prime minister urged the countrymen to send remittances through legal channels instead of hundi as the government announced a 2.5 percent incentive to encourage remittances through due process. He said that despite the global economic crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, it has been possible to keep the wheels of the country’s economy running due to the timely action of the government. Sheikh Hasina said that many countries, including developed ones, are in crisis due to the ongoing war, but the condition of Bangladesh is still better than many countries. The Prime Minister reiterated the call to the countrymen to increase food production so that Bangladesh does not fall into any crisis. Referring to bringing down the country’s poverty rate to 18.7 percent and extreme poverty rate to 5.6 percent, he said, there will be no extreme poverty in the country. The Prime Minister said that following the footsteps of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his government has been providing free houses to the homeless and landless across the country under the shelter scheme. He also said that they have already provided houses to 35 lakh people under the housing scheme and ensured their livelihood. “No one will remain homeless in the country as the government is committed to bring every homeless person under the free housing scheme,” he said. He also mentioned that 60,000 more houses are being built for this purpose. At this time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs among others on the stage. AK Abdul Momen was present and Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United States, Mohammad Imran Ansthuan, conducted the lecture.
