Visiting Speaker of UK Tower Hamlets Council Sabina Akhtar yesterday evening paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the latter's Jatiya Sangsad office in the capital, reports UNB. The Prime Minister appreciated her for being first Bangladeshi-origin female Speaker of Tower Hamlets as well as her contribution to the wellbeing of Bangladeshi diaspora community in London as a whole and particularly in Tower Hamlets, said Prime Minister's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim while briefing the reporters after the meeting.
Sabina said she is impressed with the development of Bangladesh in various sectors under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
She lauded the Prime Minister for particularly development of the education sector. In response, Sheikh Hasina said her government is promoting the education in all levels and provides stipend to 1.30 crore mothers of primary school students through mobile phone and local people are coming forward to arrange school feeding.
The Bangladeshi-origin Speaker said she witnessed the proceedings of the Jatiya Sangsad on Wednesday and impressed with the performance of Prime Minister. Sabina said the objective of her visit is promotion of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the UK.
She said around one lakh Bangladeshi people are living in her Tower Hamlets area in London and run Bangladeshi schools there.
About the law and order and terrorism situation in Bangladesh, the Prime Minister said her government engaged cross section of people, including Imams (religious clerics) in this connection and the people from all sections responded positively in this regard.
Principal Secretary Nojibur Rahman and Chairperson of Centre for NRB MS Shekil Chowdhury were present at the meeting.
In May 2017, the first-ever Bangladeshi woman speaker of Tower Hamlets Council was elected.