President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have extended heartfelt greetings and warm felicitations to the countrymen living at home and abroad on the eve of the Independence and National Day.
The nation will celebrate the 49th Independence and National Day on Tuesday, refreshing the resolution to uphold the spirit of the War of Liberation and build a ‘Sonar Bangla’ as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, reports BSS.
In a message, the President recalled with profound respect the architect of the country’s independence, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. “I pay my deep homage to the martyrs and valiant sons of the soil who made the supreme sacrifice in the war of liberation,” he said.
Abdul Hamid also recalled with deep reverence the four national leaders, valiant freedom-fighters, organizers, supporters, foreign friends and people from all walks of life who made immense contributions to attain the people’s right to self-determination and the war of liberation.
He said the contributions of all would be written in golden letters in the history of our independence forever. “We achieved our hard-earned independence through huge sacrifices. Bangabandhu always cherished a dream of building a happy and prosperous country along with achieving political emancipation,” he added.
The President said immediately after the independence, Bangabandhu had taken all out steps in rebuilding the economy of the war-ravaged country.
“Keeping that in mind, the present government has been making untiring efforts in materializing the dream of Bangabandhu. After long struggle, Bangladesh is now moving towards development and prosperity,” he said.
Abdul Hamid said the overall development, the implementation of mega projects like Padma Bridge, Metro Rail and Nuclear Power Plant are going on.
“With the launching of Bangabandhu Satellite, we have cemented our place in the space. We are dreaming of a developed Bangladesh by the year 2041. Bangladesh is now being branded as a role model for outstanding success in socio-economic development,” he said.
He said the incumbent government has set ‘Vision 2021’ and ‘Vision 2041’ to materialize Bangabandhu’s dream of transforming Bangladesh into a ‘Sonar Bangla’. He called upon all for making sincere and collective efforts to implement the programmes.
“Imbued with the spirit of the war of liberation and democratic values, let us work together irrespective of party affiliation to make our hard-earned independence more meaningful. Let this be the pledge on the Independence and National Day,” he said.
In a separate message, the Prime Minister said, “The 26th March is the day of earning self-identity of our nation. It’s the day of breaking the shackles of subjugation."
"On the eve of the Independence Day, I recall with deep gratitude the greatest Bangalee of all times, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, under whose undisputed leadership we earned our coveted independence,” she said in the message.
The premier paid deep homage to the three million martyrs and 200,000 women who lost their honour in the War of Liberation.
Sheikh Hasina recalled with gratitude the country’s foreign friends who had extended their whole-hearted support and cooperation for the cause of the country’s liberation.
She said the independence earned through supreme sacrifices of millions of people is the greatest achievement of Bangalee nation.
“Being imbued with the spirit of the freedom struggle, the Awami League government has relentlessly been working to develop the country. We have been accomplishing the unfinished work of the Father of the Nation. We have achieved expected developments in every sector during last 10 years. Bangladesh has become the ‘Role Model’ of socio-economic development in the world,” she said.
The premier said her government is maintaining a ‘zero tolerance’ policy to tackle militancy, terrorism and drug-menace.
She said for the first time in the world, we have formulated a hundred year plan named ‘Delta Plan 2100’. “Bangladesh is one of the five top countries in the world in economic development. Ninety percent of development work is financed by our own resources,” she added.
“We have executed the verdict of the trial of the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman establishing the rule of law. The verdicts of the trials of the war criminals are also being executed. The trials of war criminals will be continued as per our pledges to the nation,” she said.
The Prime Minister said due to the continuation of the Awami League government, people at the grassroots are now getting the dividend of development.
She said Bangladesh is moving forward and it will continue. The next generation will get a prosperous Bangladesh. The people made Bangladesh Awami League victorious in the recent 11th parliamentary election.
“We will fully honour the huge mandate that the people of our country have given us. We will turn Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021 and a developed-prosperous one by 2041,” she said.
“Let us uphold the development and democratic spree being imbued with the spirit of the freedom struggle. Let us engage ourselves in ensuring welfare of the nation. Let us build a hunger-poverty-free and happy-prosperous Sonar Bangladesh as dreamt by the Father of the Nation. On the historic day, let this be our commitment,” she said.
