PM condemns attack on Gaza hospital; urges for end to war, arms race
"Spending time as refugee, without knowing when we could return to our country, was the most painful. So, we don't want war; rather we wants peace," she said
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today denounced the attack on a hospital in Gaza that killed innocent people including children, reiterating her call to global leaders to stop the war and arms race for the wellbeing of mankind.
"We saw the killing of people and children by the bombing of a hospital [in Gaza] and blood stained faces of the children yesterday. I am urging the world leaders to stop the war and arms race," she said while addressing a programme marking Sheikh Russel Day-2023 and the distribution of Sheikh Russel Padak-2023 and Smart Bangladesh Padak-2023 coinciding with 60th birthday of Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The prime minister said the war and arms race never brought welfare for mankind except destruction and the women and children are the worst sufferers of the conflicts.
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"We want peace as it gives prosperity while war brings destruction. So, we don't want war; rather, we want peace. We always work to establish peace," she said.
She also said the world witnessed the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war last year and was now seeing the Israeli attack on Palestine.
People and children are being killed both in Palestine and Israel, the premier said, adding that in such a way, the children are becoming orphans losing their parents and the parents are losing their children in the war.
"We know their pain as we two sisters had become orphans in 1975," she said.
The PM said they had seen the dread of the war for themselves during the War of Liberation in 1971.
"I had seen with my own eyes the bodies lying down at different parts of Dhaka city," she said.
She said she and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana were in forced exile for six years.
"Spending time as a refugee, without knowing when we could return to our country, was the most painful thing," she said.
Sheikh Russel Jatiyo Shishu Kishore Parishad and the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division jointly organised the programme at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) here.
At the function, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun and five Deputy Commissioners (DCs) from Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Dhaka, Panchagar and Thakurgaon districts received the Smart Bangladesh Padak-2023 from the premier.
Sheikh Hasina also distributed Sheikh Russel awards among the winners of the competitions in different categories including education, painting, sports and cultural.
At the same programme, the prime minister also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of some development schemes including Sheikh Russel Animation Lab and Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centers under the ICT Division by swiping a smart card.
She also unveiled the cover of a book titled "Swaroner Aborone Sheikh Russel" edited by ICT Division State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak.
A video message regarding Sheikh Russel's memory of Indian Army's Col (rtd) Ashok Kuma Tara was broadcast at the programme. Tara rescued the family members of Bangladesh's Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from the captivity of the Pakistani occupation forces.
Presided over by ICT Division's State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the programme was also addressed, among others, by ICT Division Secretary Md Shamsul Arefin, Sheikh Russel Jatiyo Shishu Kishore Parishad Acting Chairman Chowdhury Nafeez Sarafat, Secretary General KM Shahidullah, Organising Secretary Fariduddin Ahmed Raton and child speaker Amira Nayer Chowdhury.
The trailer of the three-dimensional animation film 'Amader Chhoto Russel Sona' based on Sheikh Russel's life, written by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was screened on the occasion.
An audio-visual documentary on the life sketch of Sheikh Russel by the ICT Division was also screened while a theme song of Sheikh Russel Day-2023 was also played at the function.
Sheikh Russel Day is being observed in the country today in a befitting manner coinciding with the 60th birthday of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's youngest son Shaheed Sheikh Russel.
Russel, also the youngest brother of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was born on October 18 in 1964 at the historic Bangabandhu Bhaban at Dhanmondi road number 32 in the capital.
But he was assassinated along with most of his family members, including his father Bangabandhu, on 15 August 1975 when he was a student of class four at University Laboratory School.
The Cabinet Division in 2021 declared October 18, the birthday of Sheikh Russel, as 'Sheikh Russel Day' under the category "Ka".
To mark the day, government bodies, ruling Awami League and its associate bodies and different socio-cultural organisations observe various programmes at national and international levels.
*This article first appeared in the BSS and has been slightly edited.
