Foreign guests laud Hasina, Awami League

Politicians from 11 countries who attended the 20th national council of the Awami League (AL) heaped praise on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her dynamic leadership yesterday. They appreciated Bangladesh’s initiatives to fight terrorism, the tremendous development of the country, reduction of poverty and improvement of other sectors under the leadership of Hasina.
At least 55 political leaders from China, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia, Australia, the UK, Bhutan, and Italy joined the triennial council that started on Saturday at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka with Hasina in the chair.
Among others, the former prime minister of Nepal, K P Sharma Oli, the vice-president of India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vinay Prabhakar, Congress MP and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in India, Ghulam Nabi Azad, West Bengal education minister and Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee, Forward Bloc leader Debabrata Biswas, Italian ruling party MP Khalid Chaouki, Chinese Communist Party leader Zheng Xiaosong, and Russian ruling party lawmaker Sergei Zheleznyak spoke at the council as guest speakers.
Prabhakar described Hasina as a “rare leader” of the subcontinent. “I am impressed and more than convinced that you are a true ‘jananetri’ (leader of the people), not only in your country but also in the entire subcontinent,” he added.
He said Indian prime minister Narendra Modi gives the highest importance to a cordial and harmonious relationship between India and all of its neighbouring countries, particularly Bangladesh.
Several unsettled issues, like the Land Boundary Agreement, have been resolved and India is working on other unresolved issues under the leadership of Modi, he said. He hoped that the Indo-Bangla relationship will be strengthened even further in future and the issues respectfully resolved.
“We look forward to your (Hasina) role as one of the tallest leaders in the fight against terrorism and to save this subcontinent from its menace,” said Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha in India. He congratulated Hasina for her fight against terrorism and said all parties in India appreciate her stand.
Chinese vice minister Xiaosong said he was happy to join the convention as a special representative of the Communist Party of China. He praised Hasina “for economic development, for improving the wellbeing of the people, and maintaining stability”. He said the Chinese Communist Party and the AL have always enjoyed “close relations” and that his party stands ready to deepen Bangladesh-China relations.
Referring to the terror attack, Chaouki said he was here to tell Bangladesh that “we are together today against violence, against terrorism and we support your country for democracy and for developing together for our common values”. He also thanked Hasina for her fight against terrorism, saying she was doing a “great job”. Italy lost nine citizens in the July 1 Gulshan cafe attack.
Chaouki said both the countries have many things to do together, particularly in the new era of SDGs (UN’s Sustainable Development Goals) and asked Italians to come and explore Bangladesh.
Referring to Russia’s role in the War of Liberation, Sergei Zheleznyak lauded AL’s role in achieving Bangladesh’s independence and said it had been a most important incident. Under the leadership of Hasina, Bangladesh has played an important role in bringing stability and enhancing the security of the subcontinent and the world, said the United Russia leader. The bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and Russia will be stronger in future, he hoped.
Australian State MP of New South Wales for the Labour Party, Hugh McDermott, said there was “so much common” between his party and the AL. He said he felt honoured to speak in the same place, the Suhrawardy Udyan, from where Bangabandhu had declared independence in 1971. He welcomed Bangladeshis and AL activists, in particular, to migrate to Australia.
From India, Partha Chatterjee, and Biman Basu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Dr Ram Sharma Mahat from Nepal, Sri Lankan religious affairs minister AH Mohamad Hasheem, Canada Conservative Party leader Deepak Obhrai, Jenny Rathbone and Dilwar Ali of the UK, Italian Democratic Party leader Ugo Papi, Bhutan’s information and communications minister, Dina Nath Dungyel, Ernst Graft of Austria, and Mohamad Hasheem of Sri Lanka were other politicians from SAARC countries who spoke at the council.
Most of the guest speakers finished their speeches with slogans like ‘Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu’.

 

 

 

Foreign guests laud Hasina, Awami League

Politicians from 11 countries who attended the 20th national council of the Awami League (AL) heaped praise on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her dynamic leadership yesterday. They appreciated Bangladeshs initiatives to fight terrorism, the tremendous development of the country, reduction of poverty and improvement of other sectors under the leadership of Hasina. At least 55 political leaders from China, Canada, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia, Australia, the UK, Bhutan, and Italy joined the triennial council that started on Saturday at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka with Hasina in the chair. Among others, the former prime minister of Nepal, K P Sharma Oli, the vice-president of Indias ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vinay Prabhakar, Congress MP and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in India, Ghulam Nabi Azad, West Bengal education minister and Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee, Forward Bloc leader Debabrata Biswas, Italian ruling party MP Khalid Chaouki, Chinese Communist Party leader Zheng Xiaosong, and Russian ruling party lawmaker Sergei Zheleznyak spoke at the council as guest speakers. Prabhakar described Hasina as a rare leader of the subcontinent. I am impressed and more than convinced that you are a true jananetri (leader of the people), not only in your country but also in the entire subcontinent, he added. He said Indian prime minister Narendra Modi gives the highest importance to a cordial and harmonious relationship between India and all of its neighbouring countries, particularly Bangladesh. Several unsettled issues, like the Land Boundary Agreement, have been resolved and India is working on other unresolved issues under the leadership of Modi, he said. He hoped that the Indo-Bangla relationship will be strengthened even further in future and the issues respectfully resolved. We look forward to your (Hasina) role as one of the tallest leaders in the fight against terrorism and to save this subcontinent from its menace, said Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha in India. He congratulated Hasina for her fight against terrorism and said all parties in India appreciate her stand. Chinese vice minister Xiaosong said he was happy to join the convention as a special representative of the Communist Party of China. He praised Hasina for economic development, for improving the wellbeing of the people, and maintaining stability. He said the Chinese Communist Party and the AL have always enjoyed close relations and that his party stands ready to deepen Bangladesh-China relations. Referring to the terror attack, Chaouki said he was here to tell Bangladesh that we are together today against violence, against terrorism and we support your country for democracy and for developing together for our common values. He also thanked Hasina for her fight against terrorism, saying she was doing a great job. Italy lost nine citizens in the July 1 Gulshan cafe attack. Chaouki said both the countries have many things to do together, particularly in the new era of SDGs (UNs Sustainable Development Goals) and asked Italians to come and explore Bangladesh. Referring to Russias role in the War of Liberation, Sergei Zheleznyak lauded ALs role in achieving Bangladeshs independence and said it had been a most important incident. Under the leadership of Hasina, Bangladesh has played an important role in bringing stability and enhancing the security of the subcontinent and the world, said the United Russia leader. The bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and Russia will be stronger in future, he hoped. Australian State MP of New South Wales for the Labour Party, Hugh McDermott, said there was so much common between his party and the AL. He said he felt honoured to speak in the same place, the Suhrawardy Udyan, from where Bangabandhu had declared independence in 1971. He welcomed Bangladeshis and AL activists, in particular, to migrate to Australia. From India, Partha Chatterjee, and Biman Basu of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Dr Ram Sharma Mahat from Nepal, Sri Lankan religious affairs minister AH Mohamad Hasheem, Canada Conservative Party leader Deepak Obhrai, Jenny Rathbone and Dilwar Ali of the UK, Italian Democratic Party leader Ugo Papi, Bhutans information and communications minister, Dina Nath Dungyel, Ernst Graft of Austria, and Mohamad Hasheem of Sri Lanka were other politicians from SAARC countries who spoke at the council. Most of the guest speakers finished their speeches with slogans like Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu.