Thursday, January 12, 2012

Hasina relives the camaraderie - An emotional Bangladesh premier recalls the contributions of Tripura towards their liberation

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120113/jsp/frontpage/story_15000030.jsp

Hasina relives the camaraderie
- An emotional Bangladesh premier recalls the contributions of Tripura towards their liberation

Agartala, Jan. 12: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina turned emotional today while recalling the tribulations her countrymen went through under Pakistani rule, the assassination of her father and the help they received from the people of Tripura.

The 65-year-old Awami League leader was speaking at the ninth convocation of Tripura Central University here today after being conferred an honorary DLitt, which was handed over by vice-president Hamid Ansari.

An emotional Hasina described her visit to the state and the university campus as a "pilgrimage" because the state had played a major role in the Bangladesh liberation war. "I know this land where the university stands was a training centre for our liberation warriors and there was also a huge camp of evacuees on the other part of the sprawling campus. Many liberation fighters and their Indian friends lived and died here together. I offer heartfelt regards to their memories," she said.

Hasina recalled that her first child was born when she and her family were under house arrest at Dhanmondi in Dhaka. The Pakistani occupation army had enforced the captivity in 1971. But following the assassination of her father and Bangladesh's founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she, along with her mother, siblings and 16 close relatives, fled to India and spent six years here till 1981.

A 15-year-long political struggle as the head of Awami League saw her don the mantle of Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 1996. Today, she has completed nearly half of her second tenure in the top post."Whenever I think of Tripura, I recall my father's first visit here in 1963 to explore the possibility of Indian help to the people of my country in their struggle against the repressive Pakistani military junta. Later, he was implicated in the Agartala conspiracy case of 1967 and incarcerated. But the Pakistani authority was forced to release him in the face of massive public protests all over the then East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh," she said amidst applause.

She also expressed gratitude to the people of Tripura for sheltering more than 1.5 million refugees who had escaped the atrocities of the Pakistani occupation army in 1971. "It is remarkable that at that time Tripura's population was 1.5 million, but they hosted more than that number. This is a remarkable event of history and we will never forget it," she said.

Hasina reiterated that poverty was the main enemy in South Asia and called for regional cooperation to fight it. "Although national efforts are important, it is not possible to succeed in eliminating poverty without regional prosperity," she said, calling for better network of roads, railways and waterways and better people-to-people contact.

The Prime Minister also laid stress on improvement of connectivity between Bangladesh and the Northeast, which she said would "generate tremendous economic vibrancy, people's empowerment and the overall development of the region". She said Bangladesh and India "must work, grow and prosper together".

Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar shone in his white kurta pyjama during the convocation, as he had refused to don the regulation gown.

Hasina, Ansari and Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal took part in the pre-convocation procession at the university. She also unveiled a statue of Rabindranath Tagore on the university campus.

Later, at a civic reception at the Assam Rifles ground around 3.30pm here, she spoke on the same lines as yesterday. "Forty years have passed since our liberation war in 1971 but we have not forgotten what you did for us, and we will always remember it," she said.

She, along with her entourage that included foreign minister Dipu Moni, was seen off at the airport by Sibal.

In a rather bizarre incident, a ragpicker, Maran Das, rolled a number of marbles down the road by which Hasina's cavalcade was passing. Though his action did not create any problem, TSR jawans on duty along the road and bystanders severely beat him up and sent him to West Agartala police station. "He seems to be mentally imbalanced because when we asked him why he had done what he did, he said he had a family dispute which Hasina must resolve," said Sanjay Biswas, officer-in-charge of the West Agartala police station. Das will be produced in court tomorrow.


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