DHAKA, July 16, 2020 (BSS) – Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the drives that began against irregularities in the health sector will be continued in all other sectors across the country in phases.
“None is beyond accountability. The drives that started against irregularities in the health sector will be expanded up to grassroots covering all sectors in phases,” he said.
Quader, also Awami League General Secretary, was addressing a discussion, joining it online from his official residence, marking the AL President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s imprisonment day at the party president’s Dhanmondi political office here.
The AL general secretary said none would be able to hide their irregularities or misdeeds using their engagements or identities of the party as the government has taken a zero tolerance policy against corruption and irregularities.
“Let us keep ourselves pure and make ourselves accountable to our own conscience. Let us stand beside the distressed people without depriving them from their rights and let us build a Sonar Bangla as dreamt by Bangabandhu and a prosperous Bangladesh as envisioned by Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina,” he said.
Turning to Sheikh Hasina’s imprisonment during the 1/11 military-backed caretaker government regime, the AL general secretary said Bangabandhu’s daughter, who is considered as the symbol of trust and confidence to all, was arrested on this day in 2007.
Sheikh Hasina, the strong voice for realizing people’s rights, was kept imprisoned for 11 months, he said adding that the AL president was released from the prison on June 10, 2008 through strong movements of Awami League leaders with the support of common people.
Quader said her sincere, optimum and restless efforts to take the country towards the peak of progress by making the common people smiling following the footprints of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman have attain accolades at home and abroad.
The minister said Sheikh Hasina has survived many assassination attempts time and again but she never gave up her struggle to establish the rights of people.
Quader said those, who wanted to exclude Sheikh Hasina from politics to stop the path of struggle of establishing people’s rights keeping the politicians aside from politics, they had realized imprisoned Sheikh Hasina is stronger than freed Sheikh Hasina.
In the 2008 general elections, Awami League attained people’s absolute mandate through a landslide victory to form the government and Sheikh Hasina wore the crown of prime minister for the second time, he said.
Since then, he said, struggles and unparallel efforts are going on to build a different Bangladesh with unprecedented developments in every sector while the country entered the list of nations those have own satellites and settled different issues with neighbouring countries including land and maritime boundaries and longstanding enclaves problems.
With the trail and execution of the killers of Bangabandhu and kingpins of crimes against humanity during that period, the country has been freed from the stigma, he added.
Quader said Bangabandhu had brought the geographical emancipation meaning independence of the soil from the long subjugation and his daughter has brought economic emancipation of the nation.
AL Presidium members Begum Matia Chowdhury, Advocate Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman, Joint General Secretaries–Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud and AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Organizing Secretaries Ahmed Hossain, BM Mozammel Haque, Mirza Azam and SM Kamal Hossain, Labour Affairs Secretary Habibur Rahman Siraj, Liberation Affairs Secretary Mrinal Kanti Das, Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, Science and Technology Affairs Secretary Abdus Subhan and Office Secretary Barrister Biplab Barua, among others, were present on the occasion.