Our Mourning Day pledge is to build better Bangladesh: PM’s principal secy

Bangabandhu struggled throughout his life for the economic emancipation of people and the development of their destiny, said prime minister's Principal Secretary Tofazzel Hossain Miah, adding that the vow to build a better Bangladesh is the pledge on the occasion of the National Mourning Day.

He made the remarks while addressing a discussion, marking the 48th martyrdom anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the National Mourning Day-2023, jointly organised by Bida, Beza and National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) at the Bida Multipurpose Hall in the capital on Sunday.

The event was chaired by Bida Executive Chairman (Senior Secretary) Lokman Hossain Miah, and attended by Beza Executive Chairman (Senior Secretary) Shaikh Yusuf Harun, Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office Mohammad Salah Uddin and Executive Chairman (Secretary) of NSDA Nasreen Afroz as special guests.

Addressing as the chief guest, Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah said, "Once upon a time, 80% of the people of East Bengal were below the poverty line. The country was the same but there was a lot of disparity in per capita income. In 1962, the average income of people in East Bengal was Rs292 and the average income of West Pakistanis was Rs380. The investment rate in Bengal was only 23%."

"From 1965 to 1967, there were only 65 development projects in Bengal and 297 in Pakistan, while 56% of the total population was Bengali. At that time, import and export licenses were issued only from Islamabad," he added.

"Our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who has struggled throughout his life to free the people of Bengal from discrimination. At the age of 34, he resigned as a minister in 1954 only to claim our rights"

"After the independence of the country, he [Bangabandhu] introduced all the laws for the management of the country - starting from the constitution of Bangladesh in the shortest time, and there is no sector that Bangabandhu did not plan for," added Tofazzel.

He further said that Bangabandhu wanted to build a hunger and poverty-free developed Sonar Bangla, and today, under the leadership of his daughter - the honourable prime minister - Bangladesh is moving forward on the highway of development. "So, we who are involved in the development sector of the country, including Bida, Beza and NSDA, have the responsibility to improve the nation by providing proper services – and we pledge it on the occasion of the Mourning Day"

Beza Executive Chairman Shaikh Yusuf Harun, PMO Secretary Mohammad Salah Uddin and NSDA Executive Chairman Nasreen Afroz also spoke at the event.