Tribute to the Father of the Nation

The Nation is blessed to observe the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman born on March 17 in 1920, 101 years ago. This is no denial that there are a few leaders in the world who have been endowed with great respect for their unique contribution to their nation. Of them, the contribution of Bangabandhu to his country and countrymen is considered supreme in the history of Bangladesh. He was a person with charismatic power and inborn qualities well capable of spreading light from darkness.

To the people of the country, Bangabandhu and Bangladesh have been an entity ingrained inseparably. Obviously, the Bengali nations have to undergo the years to suffer under the tyranny of the Pakistani rulers unless Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born in this land. 

Bangabandhu is the reason that Bangladesh even exists, for it was his incredible leadership leading up to the Liberation War, and his inspiring words in the historic March 7 speech, that galvanized the entire country. His leadership allowed Bangladesh to, despite all odds, defeat the oppressive regime of Pakistan and emerge as a free, independent nation.

The far-sighted leader of the nation could easily realize that the Bengali would never stand their heads unless they became independent. It was his dream to liberate the people of this land throughout his life and to do this, most of the time he had to spend in prison.

He never compromised with any injustice that put him into enormous sufferings throughout his life. He loved the countrymen more than his own life. He always fought for the political, economic and cultural emancipation of people.

With his pioneering role, Sheikh Mujib made history contributing whole-heartedly to the birth of Bangladesh and his worthy daughter, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already made many glaring instances uplifting the country to a global height that materialize the Bangabandhu's dream of Sonar Bangla.

Along with the growing digitization, the country has already achieved the status of a middle-income country before we observe 50 years of independence and likely to achieve the status of a developed country by 2041. The world has already recognized Bangladesh as one of the countries with a rising economy.

Recently, International Monetary Fund (IMF) has published a report claiming that Bangladesh is set to surpass India in terms of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 that makes people feel happy that even in the pandemic the country is on track to achieve sustainable goals within the timeframe.

It is noteworthy that the premier Sheikh Hasina has led the country to the height of success representing it as an abode of huge possibilities to the global community. The present Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina cherishing the dream of Bangabandhu at heart is working relentlessly for the people of Bangladesh.

We must remember, however, that Bangabandhu inherited a country and a people that were war-torn, ravaged, and lacking any physical and social infrastructure, regulatory institutions, or a functional civic society. Despite that, Bangabandhu never lost hope, and instead chose to focus on the collective will and resilience of the Bangladeshi people in transforming this poor, broken country into one that would prosper and thrive.