DHAKA, March 25, 2019 (BSS) – President Md Abdul Hamid today extended his heartfelt greetings and warm felicitations to the countrymen living at home and abroad on the eve of the Independence and National Day.
In a message, the President said he 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 in pursuing the country’s diplomatic objectives, the government has been consistent in upholding the principle of “Friendship to all, malice towards none” as enunciated by the Father of the Nation.
“Our achievement in international arena is also commendable. Our expatriate Bangladeshis have also been making significant contributions to our national economy through sending their hard-earned remittances,” he said.
The President said: “Nevertheless, we have to go a long way for achieving the desired goals of independence. We must ensure good governance, social justice, transparency and accountability to make the development people-oriented and sustainable.”
He said democracy and development complement each other. Jatiya Sangsad and the government have started the new journey after the eleventh parliamentary election, he added.
He stressed the need for collective initiatives to implement the development ideas of the government and make the parliament meaningful.
The President hoped the parliament would be the centre of hopes and aspirations of the people. For this, he said, the ruling party as well as the opposition would have to play a constructive role.
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.