Biography Sheikh Hasina

RESIDENCE: Dhaka, Bangladesh

Traveling BD Bangladesh

BangladeshiHistory

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One-Party Rule

Hasina was sworn in as prime minister in January 2009. Four months later her husband died after an extended illness. In January 2010 five former military officers who had been convicted of assassinating Hasina’s father in 1975 were executed in Dhaka, some 13 years after their trials had started during Hasina’s first term as prime minister. Later that year the govt found out the primary tribunal to start trying war crimes cases stemming from the 1971 war of independence. Many of the tribunal’s convicts were influential members of the Awami League’s opposition, however, and supporters and allies protested the tribunal as politically motivated.
In 2017, within the midst of Hasina’s premiership, quite 700,000 Rohingya arrived in Bangladesh, fleeing genocide in neighbouring Myanmar. the govt provided refuge and assistance, though it didn’t grant refugee status and worked to repatriate the Rohingya on a voluntary basis. the govt received praise both internationally and domestically for helping the Rohingya, but concerns grew about finding a permanent solution to the crisis.

Meanwhile, Hasina and her party faced accusations of suppressing the opposition throughout their term in power. Many opposition members were arrested or tried, and therefore the government sometimes appeared to stifle dissent and free speech. Jamaat-e-Islami, alittle Islamist party key to the opposition coalition, was in 2013 banned from participating in elections, after a court ruled that its religious charter was inconsistent with Bangladesh’s secular constitution. Citing concerns that the 2014 parliamentary elections wouldn’t be free and fair, the BNP and other opposition groups boycotted the polls, and therefore the Awami League swept the elections. Those concerns remained in situ beforehand of the 2018 polling, though the BNP did plan to contest the elections that year. Khaleda, still leader of the BNP, was jailed on charges of embezzlement and graft earlier that year and wasn’t allowed to participate. The Awami League won a landslide victory, while the BNP won only a couple of seats. Hasina denied accusations of election rigging and dismissed the BNP’s loss as resulting from a scarcity of leadership within the party.

cotrader.com

World Economic Forum

Bangladesh — Prime Minister Addresses General Debate, 75th Session

In the name of Allah the most gracious the most merciful Mr. president Assalamu alaikum i congratulate you on your election as the president of the 75th session of the united nations general assembly we are passing through an unprecedented crisis in the history of humankind due to the covet 19 pandemic this is also the first time in the un’s history that the general assembly is taking place on digital platform without the presence in person of the heads of states and the heads of governments at the un headquarters in New York this general assembly hall evokes deep emotions in me from this very hall in 1974 my father Bhangabundu sheikh Mojibu Rahman delivered a speech for the first time in Banhla as the head of government of a newly independent country i also had the privilege of attending the general assembly sessions in person for 16 times i emphasized world peace and solidarity in all my speeches as the head of government this year i am delivering my 17th speech in the assembly i take this opportunity to pay my tribute to all front line fighters including health workers and public servants who are working tirelessly to ensure safety of the affected countries and population i also commend the united nations secretary general for his bold leadership and multilateral efforts during this crisis was among the first rank of countries to endorse the secretary general’s various initiatives including his global ceasefire appeal just as the second world war created opportunities for countries to come together in their efforts to cooperate through the establishment of the united nations similarly this pandemic has emphasized the need for collective action under the guidance of right leadership with profound gratitude i remember the undisputed leader bhangabundhu shikhmuji brahman the greatest Bengali of all time he taught the Bengali nation to stand firm in the world by ending exploitation deprivation and oppression following his footsteps we have been able to secure a respectable position for Banhladesh in the committee of nations from this august assembly he declared and i quote the noble ideals enshrined in the united nations charter are the very ideals for which millions of our people have made the supreme sacrifice the Banhla nation fully commits itself to the building of a world order in which the aspiration of all men for peace and justice will be realized unquote his statement was indeed a bold expression for multilateralism the reflection that Bongobundu made in 1974 continues to remain equally relevant even today as we grapple with the current crisis this year is particularly significant for the Banhla nation as we are celebrating the birth centenary of the father of our nation our reflection on his life struggle and sacrifice and celebration of his achievements is a source of our encouragement for brighter future and give us the hope to cope with the challenge of covet 19. on the birth centenary we on behalf of all deprived people and nations pay rich tribute to Bongabundu i remember with deep pain the brutal assassination of my father father of the Bengali nation and the then president Bangabandhu sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 august 1975 along with 18 members of my family including my mother three brothers two sisters-in-law the lives of myself and my younger sister were fortunately spared as we were out of the country at that time we had to stay abroad as refugees for six long years i mention this to this assembly so that the world does not see the repetition of such heinous brutal and unjust killings ever Mr. president the pandemic is a stark reminder that our fates are interconnected and that no one is secure until everyone is secure this pandemic to a large extent kept us restricted to our homes consequently our economic activities were greatly hampered along with our health systems Banhladesh achieved a GDP growth rate of 8.2 percent in the fiscal year 2018–2019 but the covet-19 pandemic has impeded our economic progress however in Banhladesh from the beginning we took initiatives putting equal emphasis on the lives and livelihoods of our people we have announced stimulus packages aiming to minimize the impact of the pandemic on our business and productivity we have greatly expanded social safety nets coverage every year we allocate around 39 billion taka for our freedom fighters our allowances for the elderly widows destitute women disabled and other backward sections of the society are benefiting approximately 9.1 million families we have readily arranged food and other assistance for people who are rendered jobless due to covet 19. this arrangement has benefited nearly 10 million families we have provided scholarships to 4 million students we have also given cash incentives to 5 million people including farmers workers and laborers affected by the pandemic to ensure health care of the common people we are providing 30 types of medicines free of cost through 18 000 community clinics and union health centers along with government assistance i myself have collected funds and distributed an amount of Dhaka 2.5 billion among the orphans poor students madrasas mosques temples school teachers artists journalists who are otherwise not included in government’s assistance programs as a result the impact of the pandemic among our people has been minimal we announced 31 point directives soon after the detection of covet cases in the country we launched vigorous awareness raising campaigns as well as disputed personal protective kits aiming to contain the spread of the Coronavirus these resulted in containment of seasonal diseases which are otherwise common in our country we quickly identified the impending challenges of our financial sector and announced 21 stimulus packages these packages include sectors such as export intensive industries safety and security of the workers working capital for small and medium enterprises loan facilities for export growth assistance to farmers and agriculture loan for employment generation interest relief for the affected business enterprises refinancing schemes and insurance for the health workers so far we have announced stimulus package worth us dollar 13.25 billion which is equivalent to 4.03 percent of our total GDP during the pandemic highest emphasis has been placed on food production at the same time we have taken all measures to ensure adequate supply of nutrition for our people special arrangements have been made for keeping the industries running and for proper marketing of agricultural products and industrial outputs in full compliance with health guidelines consequently our health sector and economy are still comparatively at a better shape despite the covet-induced stagnation in global industrial outputs our GDP has registered a growth rate of 5.24 percent which is expected to be 7 in the next fiscal year mr president we hope that the covet 19 vaccine will soon be available in the world it is imperative to treat the vaccine as a global public good we need to ensure the timely availability of this vaccine to all countries at the same time if we are provided with the technical know-how and patents the pharmaceutical industry of Banhladesh has the capacity to go for vaccine production in mass scale efforts to contain the pandemic and achieve agenda 2030 have to go hand in hand Banhladesh’s second voluntary national review presented this year shows that we are well on track to achieve the sustainable development goals we are working hard to transform Banhladesh into a middle-income country by 2021 attain the sdgs by 2030 a developed country by 2041 and a prosperous delta by 2100 we cannot but emphasize more on the importance of leveraging science technology and innovation for closing the digital divide and mobilizing resources and technology transfer it is also crucial that graduating ldcs and recently graduated ones are recorded scaled up international support and incentive packages in the transition and post-transition phases to minimize the pandemic triggered impediments the migrant workers are the front-line contributors to the economies of their host and home countries alike many of them have lost their jobs during the pandemic while many have been sent back home we have allocated us dollar 361 million for the returning migrant workers it is critical to help them regain employment in the post Covid job market i urge the international community and migrant receiving countries to treat migrant workers fairly and with empathy Mr president the pandemic is worsening the pre-existing vulnerabilities of climate vulnerable countries in Banhladesh we are dealing with the dual impact of recent floods and the cyclone fund even during the pandemic as the current president of the cvf and the v20 group of ministers of finance Banhladesh would lead the forum to map out a sustainable and climate resilient pathway out of the crisis we also stand ready to contribute to securing a constructive and productive outcome in the glasgow cop the beijing declaration and platform of action has helped the international community come a long way to ensure gender equality as we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the declaration we need to strengthen our resolve and mutual cooperation to address all the critical areas of concern in Banhladesh we have closed 72.6 of our overall gender gap women’s contribution remains at the core of our national development they are also at the forefront of pandemic response and recovery efforts in Banhladesh we are implementing special programs for the development of children as the current president of the Unicef executive board we are leading efforts to address the existing disparity at the same time we remain vigilant to ensure that this health crisis does not turn into a children’s crisis Mr. president friendship to all and malice to none is the fundamental principle of our foreign policy inspired by this foreign policy victim Banhladesh has been consistently contributing to international peace and security and the establishment of a culture of peace during the pandemic we see the rise of hate speech xenophobia and intolerance embracing the spirit of a culture of peace can help address these worrying trends currently we are the largest troops and police contributing country in the world to the peacekeeping missions our peacekeepers are putting their lives on the line to secure and sustain peace in conflict-ravaged countries international community must ensure their safety and security this year we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the women peace and security agenda as one of its original proponents we call for due recognition of women’s role in peace and security we have already formulated a national action plan in this regard our unflinching commitment to peace has resulted in the adoption of a zero tolerance policy towards terrorism and violent extremism national efforts have to be complemented by international cooperation to curb this menace we consistently and strongly support the global quest for a nuclear weapons free world to that end we support the aspirations of developing countries to benefit from the peaceful views of nuclear technology our painful experience and the worst form of genocide and crimes against humanity that our nation had to endure during our struggle for independence motivated us to support the legitimate cause of the Palestinian people Banhladesh provided temporary shelter to over 1.1 million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals more than three years have elapsed regrettably not a single Rohingya could be repatriated the problem was created by Myanmar and its solution must be found in Myanmar i request the international community to play a more effective role for a solution to the crisis Mr president the pandemic has indeed aggravated existing global challenges it has also reinforced the indispensability of Multilateralism on the 75th anniversary of the united nations our commitment to Multilateralism as embodied in the u.n charter remains unflinching at the national level despite numerous challenges we are committed to upholding the values of Multilateralism and working towards building a sonar Banhla free of poverty and exploitation based on democratic principles with full enjoyment of human rights as envisioned by the father of our nation on the birth centenary of our father of the nation this is our pledge to our nation and to the world i thank you all again

The Economist news desk

Enough

Originally published at https://www.ourhero.xyz.