Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called upon the leaders and workers of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) to devote themselves to the welfare of the countrymen imbued with the ideals of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman."I urge you to make whatever sacrifices are needed for the welfare and development of the country," she yesterday told a discussion at Bangabandhu International Conference Center. BCL arranged the discussion in memory of Bangabandhu and Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib marking the National Mourning Day. Sheikh Hasina advised BCL leaders and workers to work for building a hunger, poverty and illiteracy-free 'Digital Bangladesh' as pledged in the election manifesto of Awami League. Terming the students as the future leaders in all sectors of the country, she asked BCL workers to build themselves as the worthy citizens to take future leadership of the country. The Prime Minister said the main objective of her politics is to bring smile on the faces of the common people through ensuring all basic rights of the people as she had no personal ambition for wealth and property."I don't want any wealth and property...I only wants to see smiles on the faces of the common people," she said. Praising the glorious role of BCL in all democratic movements of the country, the Prime Minister called upon the leaders and workers to retain its past glory."Whatever obstacles come to your way, you will have to retain the past glory of the organization by building 'Sonar Bangla' as dreamt by Bangabandhu," she said. Terming the 1996-2001 period of Awami League as a golden era for the country, Sheikh Hasina said people had realized for the first time that the government was actually for their welfare. Sheikh Hasina came down heavily on General Zia for protecting and patronizing the killers of Bangabandhu and said he (Zia) not only let the killers of Bangabandhu go scot-free, but also rewarded them by providing jobs in different embassies. Like Zia, she said, Begum Khaleda Zia made a killer of Bangabandhu as the leader of opposition in parliament in 1996 through the 15th February farcical elections. She said that after the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu, the military rulers played a game with the fate of the people and created an elite class in the country to protect them. Sheikh Hasina said fallen Libyan ruler Moamer Gaddafi had sought clemency for killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the 1996 General elections brought Awami League back to power 21 years after the carnage. "He (Gaddafi) wrote a letter asking me to pardon Bangabandhu's killers, quoting Quranic verses," she said. The Prime Minister said the Libyan leader gave asylum to the self-confessed killers of Bangabandhu and added: "He (Gaddafi) is now in a position to leave the country." "Those who sheltered Bangabandhu's killers have fallen," she said. Paying rich tributes to Bangabandhu, she said that at a time when Bangabandhu was rebuilding the war- ravaged nation, the anti- liberation forces brutally killed him along with most of the family members on the fateful night of August 15, 1975. Through the killing of Bangabandhu, she said, the assailants not only killed the great leader but also stopped the wheels of development and progress side by side with shattering the hopes and aspirations of the people. The Prime Minister greeted BCL leaders and workers on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. With BCL President H M Badiuzzaman Sohag in the chair, the discussion was also addressed by eminent economist Professor Dr Abul Barakat, Prof Dr Hamida Banu of Chittagong University and noted historian Professor Dr Abul Kashem of Rajshahi University.At the outset of the meeting, a minute's silence was observed as a mark of respect to Bangabandhu, Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib and other martyrs of the August 15 carnage. The Prime Minister also unwrapped the cover of BCL publication, Matribhumi, at the function
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