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Published on January 30, 2018
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has launched the campaign for her Awami League from this northeastern city, marked by the footprints of Sufi saints, saying the polls were set to be held in December this year.
"We are launching our campaign for the next general elections from here (Sylhet). I seek your vote for 'boat' for the elections to be held in December," she told a mammoth rally at Sylhet Alia Madrasah Ground on Tuesday afternoon.
Sheikh Hasina said the ruling Awami League aimed to keep up Bangladesh's journey towards further prosperity and development as a nation with dignity, taking on board people of Bangladesh at home and abroad.
"To achieve the goal, we seek vote for boat in the next elections," she told the rally hours after visiting the holy shrines of Hazrat Shah Jalal, Hazrat Shah Paran and Hazrat Gazi Borhan Uddin in the city and on its outskirts.
The premier said Bangladesh Awami League's symbol "boat" had brought independence and showed the path of prosperity, and now "the boat is taking ahead the country to the path of development".
The huge audience raised their hands amid applauses as at one point of her address, Sheikh Hasina urged the people to express their support for the "boat".
Sylhet district and city Awami League jointly organized the rally.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, Road Transport and Bridges Minister and AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, Joint Secretaries Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif and Dr Dipu Moni, State Minister for Finance M A Mannan, among others, spoke at the rally.
Sylhet City Awami League President Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran presided over the public meeting which was held after the premier opened 18 development projects and laid the foundation stones of 17 others by unveiling their plaques from Sylhet Government Alia Madrasa ground.
In her address, the premier called upon the countrymen to stay alert about terrorism, militancy and corruption calling them as major "social vices" standing on the path of development and prosperity.
"These social vices must not have any room . . . It's our commitment that we will establish Sonar Bangla as dreamt by the Father of the Nation Insha Allah," she said.
The AL president said that her party's aim is the politics of development for changing people's fate while BNP's one is to burn people to death as its chairperson becomes excited by seeing the burnt bodies.
She said BNP's activities always exposed the country to destruction, earned it the ill fame of being the champion in corruption calling the BNP- Jamaat clique as "plunderers, killers and terrorists who only know to destroy and make the life of the people hell".
Sheikh Hasina urged people to recall the mayhem and mindless violence spearheaded by the BNP-Jamaat nexus from 2013 to 2015 to unseat the government and foil the January 5 polls.
"A (political) movement is usually staged for the interest of the people and realize their demands but in the name of it the BNP-Jamaat burnt to death over 500 people and crippled 3000 people forever through unleashing fire terrorism . . . even the children and pregnant women were not spared," she said.
On the other hand, she said the country witnessed development when Awami League came to power and referred to her government's various steps for development of Sylhet alone.
Sheikh Hasina said every Bangladeshi village got the touch of development as the countrymen gave their mandate to Awami League in the last election.
"The country advances and is rewarded when the Awami League assumes office, while then the country is reprimanded when the BNP comes to power," she said.
The prime minister said a major goal of her government was to change the rural people's fate as "we want there will be no poverty and homeless in the country".
The prime minister said the BNP-Jamaat terrorists torched buses, trains and launches in the name of the movement. "Even they hurled bombs and set fire to mosques and they were forced to stop such misdeeds on the face of people's resistance" she said.
She said the BNP-Jamaat unleashed mindless violence and destruction in 14/15 town of the country by cutting roads and felling trees
Sheikh Hasina also highlighted the BNP-Jamaat's terrorist acts during their rule from 2001 to 2006 and said that they carried out massacre during the period. "The BNP-Jamaat created militancy and Bangla Bhai at that time," she said.
The premier said these elements killed former minister Shah AMS Kibria and lawmaker Ahsanullah Master and carried out grenade attacks on British high commissioner Anwar Chowdhury and Sylhet Mayor Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran apart from killing numerous Awami League leaders and workers.
She also recalled the August 21 grisly grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka and the synchronized bomb blasts at 500 places in 63 districts of the country.
The prime minister spelled out her government's successes in various sectors including poverty alleviation, agriculture, education, health, power generation, ICT and digitization. She said 90 percent people are now getting electricity as the government raised the country's power generation capacity to 16,000 MW while "poverty rate declined to 22 percent from 42 percent in the last nine years and literacy rate increased to 72 percent".
Sheikh Hasina said 14 crore mobile SIMs are being used, while the number of internet users stood at eight crore
"(As for Sylhet) the Osmani International Airport was upgraded to the international airport during the Awami League government while the Sylhet- Dhaka Highway will be upgraded to four lanes," she said.
The premier also elaborated different steps for the welfare of expatriate Bangladeshis and tea workers.
Photo: Saiful Islam Kallol
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