Sheikh Hasina: Reflection of a Developed and Prosperous Bangladesh

A special article on the occasion of the birthday of Bangabandhu’s daughter, leader Sheikh Hasina

Mizanur Haque Khan

শেখ হাসিনা, তুমি তো পিতার সূর্যের নিচে এই বাংলাদেশ
যুদ্ধের; আর রক্তের; আর স্বাধীনতার সূর্য-উঠার বাংলাদেশ
সবুজ পাতা, ঘন মেঘ বৃষ্টিজল, সমুদ্র-হাওয়ার বাংলাদেশ
নৌকায় দাঁড় হাতে দাঁড়িয়ে থাকা মাঝির মতো অগণিত মানুষের বাংলাদেশ
আমার মায়ের কণ্ঠস্বরের পলল মাটির বাংলাদেশ।

শেখ হাসিনা তুমি তো পিতার সূর্যের নিচে এই বাংলাদেশ
মৃত্যুর পাণ্ডুলিপি লেখে যারা আর যারা মৃত্যুর চেয়েও হিসেবী ঘাতক
যারা পোড়ায় মানুষের ঘর, কেড়ে নেয় সোনামুখী মেয়েটির নাকের নলক
তাদের বলীয়ান সীমানা ভেঙে জেগে ওঠো তুমি বদ্বীপ-বাংলা; বদ্বীপ সময়
তোমার আঙিনায় গ্রামপুঞ্জ শহরের গড় নতুন অংক সাহসিকতার।

(Poet Dulal Biswas: Sheikh Hasina)

Today is the birthday of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the architect of the development of modern Bangladesh, the daughter of the leader Bangabandhu. Her long political life is a history of extraordinary contributions to the country. Despite the deep pain of losing her relatives, she has worked for the betterment of the people of Bengal. Under her leadership, Bangladesh has reached a new height today.

Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina is a symbol of our courage. One of the proofs of her courage and a monument to Bangladesh’s economic capacity is our Padma Bridge. The story of being strong with patriotism and fighting bravely against false allegations of corruption and conspiracies and winning is called Padma Bridge. Under her leadership, the Padma Bridge and Metrorail were built with her own funds, a nuclear power plant was established, the Karnaphuli Tunnel, an elevated expressway, and new flyovers were built. In addition, she has upgraded the highways to four lanes, established an LNG terminal, and made the country self-sufficient in food. As a result, Bangladesh’s per capita income has increased to 2,824 US dollars.

We need to remember – Sheikh Hasina is a unique name in the history of Bangladesh – a statesman who has left an indelible mark not only on the political stage, but also on every level of the country’s economy, society, technology and human values. On her birthday, we gratefully remember all the contributions that have transformed Bangladesh into a self-reliant, humane and digital nation.

Financial security for the lower-middle class and the disabled

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a leader of the people, has taken several groundbreaking steps during her tenure to improve the living standards of the lower and middle class people of the country. Under her leadership, Bangladesh has been promoted from a low-income country to a lower-middle-income country and is now moving towards a middle-income country. She has expanded social security programs, as a result of which assistance such as old-age allowance, widow’s allowance, disability allowance and maternity allowance have reached the poor and underprivileged people directly. In addition, she has boosted the rural economy by introducing subsidies in the agricultural sector, soft loans and incentive packages for farmers. These steps have been very helpful in combating inflationary pressures and maintaining the purchasing power of the lower class people.

During Sheikh Hasina’s rule, several important social security programs have been launched and expanded to alleviate poverty and improve the living standards of the people. These programs have created a social safety net for the poor, needy and marginalized people of the country. First of all, we must talk about the allowance programs. The old age allowance program was first launched under her leadership in the fiscal year 1996-97. Under this, monthly allowances are provided to the needy and senior citizens of the country, which ensures their financial security. At the same time, she introduced allowances for widows and husband-abused women. This program was launched in the fiscal year 1998-99. It helps widows and women who are abused in the society to become self-reliant by providing financial assistance to them.

Disabled people are one of the most marginalized groups in society, especially those born into poor families. Pictures were often published in newspapers and magazines – parents chaining their disabled child or person. The Poor Disabled Allowance was introduced under the guidance of the leader Sheikh Hasina. This allowance is provided to improve the quality of life of disabled people. It helps in meeting their medical and other daily expenses. Not only that, inspired by the leader, the Neuro-Developmental Disabled Protection Trust was formed in 2013 under the leadership of her worthy daughter Saima Wazed Putul.

The brave freedom fighters are the sun children of the nation. Bangabandhu’s daughter has always remembered their sacrifice and heroism with respect. After the brutal murder of the greatest Bengali of the thousand years, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family on August 15, 1975, all subsequent military governments and the BNP government supported by the anti-liberation political parties including Jamaat did not give any recognition to the brave freedom fighters. These governments adopted such policies as a state so that the brave freedom fighters or their children do not get any state benefits.

From August 15, 1975 until the Awami League government came to power in 1996, the families of freedom fighters were deprived of government jobs. The Freedom Fighters’ Honorary Allowance was introduced under the leadership of Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina. This allowance has been introduced to provide honor and financial support to the brave freedom fighters, which expresses the state’s gratitude for their sacrifice and contribution. Not only that, remembering the extreme sacrifices they and their families made in the great Liberation War of Bangladesh, they arranged jobs for them through the quota system in all government and autonomous institutions, so that the families of freedom fighters can come out of the curse of poverty.

Not only allowances, Jananetri Sheikh Hasina launched food assistance and employment programs for the marginalized groups of the society. Rice is provided to poor families at a low price through the rice sale program at 10 taka per kg, which ensures their food security. Under the Ashrayan project, landless and homeless families are provided with free land and houses. This is a groundbreaking step for the rehabilitation of the homeless. In particular, the One House One Farm (My House My Farm) project has to be mentioned separately. Through this project, poor families are given the opportunity for small savings and microcredit, which helps them create their own employment and become self-reliant. It has gained worldwide recognition as a successful model for poverty alleviation.

Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina has shown the world that the poor are not ‘interest’ earning machines, but if the state invests in them, they will become assets in the future. In this way, she strengthened the country’s tax base by building a self-reliant population. During her reign, she turned the low-income population into a labor force by arranging for them to go abroad at low cost through the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare, and this population continues to contribute to the increase in the country’s foreign income even today. She has established the Expatriate Welfare Trust and the Expatriate Welfare Bank, as a result of which, if any expatriate worker wants to return to the country permanently, arrangements are being made for the full settlement of labor soldiers through necessary training and interest-free financing.

Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina’s education, health and special population-focused programs deserve special mention. Under the education assistance program, stipends are provided to students at various levels, which especially encourages female students to study and reduces the dropout rate. She made free education mandatory for all female students up to the eighth grade and later, to prevent them from falling behind, five kilograms of rice was given to female students every week. As a result, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina turned female children into assets, not burdens of the family. As a result of this policy, child marriages decreased in the society and it was possible to ensure equality between daughters and sons in the family.

Leader Sheikh Hasina is also a mother. Thinking about all working mothers, her government, following the ideals of international labor law, provided maternity allowances and financial assistance to pregnant and lactating mothers in all government and private workplaces, which ensured their health and that of their children. Special allowances, training and educational stipends were provided to improve the quality of life of transgenders, Bedi and backward communities, which helped them to return to the mainstream of society. Her government provided one-time financial grants for the treatment of patients suffering from complex diseases including cancer, kidney, liver cirrhosis and congenital heart disease. It is necessary to mention that as soon as the unconstitutional and undemocratic Yunus government came to power, all the above-mentioned activities were suspended and the lower middle class and marginalized population of the country are living in extreme poverty today.

Fight against climate change

Bangladesh is one of the countries affected by climate change. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has provided strong leadership in the international arena and domestically to combat the adverse effects of climate change. She has formed the ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund’, which is fully funded by her own resources. Through this, various projects have been implemented to adapt to climate change, such as: building dams in coastal areas, installing cyclone shelters and developing salinity-tolerant crop varieties. She has played a vocal role on behalf of climate-vulnerable countries in various international forums, including the United Nations, and has pressured developed countries to reduce their carbon emissions.

Humanity towards Rohingya refugees

When millions of Rohingya refugees were forced to take refuge in Bangladesh due to brutal persecution by the Myanmar military, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set a unique example of humanity for them. She opened the border and sheltered about 1.1 million Rohingyas and provided them with food, clothing and medical care. World leaders have highly praised her humanitarian action. At the same time, she has continuously called on the international community to ensure the safe return of the Rohingyas to their homeland, Myanmar.

Women’s empowerment and digital Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina’s role in women’s rights and empowerment is undeniable. She has formulated various laws and policies to ensure women’s participation in politics, economy and social life. Stipends have been provided to promote women’s education, maternity leave has been extended for working women and seats have been reserved for women in local governments. These initiatives of hers have helped women become economically and politically self-reliant. During Sheikh Hasina’s rule, women have gained a new identity – leadership, capability and self-reliance. Her government has launched programs such as women’s development policy, gender budgeting, women entrepreneur loans, women police recruitment, women student stipends. Currently, women in Bangladesh are walking boldly in all fields – female prime ministers, female speakers, women ministers, judges, army officers and entrepreneurs. Sheikh Hasina herself has become a symbol of women’s empowerment.

In addition, his role in realizing the dream of building a Digital Bangladesh has opened a new horizon in the history of Bangladesh. By investing heavily in the information technology sector, making the internet accessible, and providing digital services, he has transformed the country into a modern information technology-dependent society. His steps in expanding e-governance, e-commerce, and online education have prepared the country to face the challenges of the 21st century.

Respect in the language of poetry

Finally, many poets have written poems about the life and leadership of the people’s leader Sheikh Hasina. On her birthday, some famous lines by poet Nirmalendu Gun can be remembered:

“যতক্ষণ দেহে আছে প্রাণ,
যতক্ষণ হাতে আছে শক্তি,
ততক্ষণ দেশের তরে আমি
দেব আমার সবটুকু ভক্তি।”

“শেখ হাসিনা, তুমি আমার ভালোবাসা,
তুমিই আমার ভরসা,
তুমিই আমার দেশ,
তোমার হাতেই আমাদের স্বপ্ন আর আশা।”

Sheikh Hasina is not just a politician, she is a visionary statesman who has taken Bangladesh forward through a combination of development and humanity. On her birthday, we gratefully remember all those contributions that will guide our future.

Happy birthday, Sheikh Hasina.

Author: Mizanur Haque Khan, President, German Awami League