President M Abdul Hamid yesterday urged the public representatives and graduates to motivate the dishonest traders, hoarders and profiteers who are becoming rich overnight by sucking people’s blood. “Motivation for the dishonest traders, hoarders and profiteers is a must. . . You will have to do it (motivational campaign) along with your assigned duty” he told the fourth convocation of Chattogram University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) on its campus at Rangunia of Raozan Upazila here.
He expressed concern that a section of people has the tendency for making hiking the prices of the essentials, including rice and onions, by creating fake crisis or spreading rumours and using chemicals like mixing formalin with foodstuff. “It’s a strange country…,” the president said, adding, “On the one hand, farmers are harvesting paddy, and on the other hand, the prices of rice are on the rise. This is really very saddening.” The head of the state advised the quarters concerned to shun these evil deeds.
President Hamid categorically said, “That’s not all to love the country. . . You must do something in this connection.” Speaking at the colourful and well-decorated makeshift podium in the presence of several thousand jubilant students, the president suggested the graduates to acquire world-standard knowledge and expertise to compete in the global competition. He said engineers must have farsightedness and creativity in formulation of development plans for the country.
“Engineers must have clear farsightedness in their thinking and spirit as any sustainable development plan for the country comes out of their merits, talent and creativity,” said the president. “What should be the nature of development for Bangladesh in 2015 or 2100 or at which level Bangladesh would reach at that time must be taken into consideration for formulation of our future development plans,” he added.
The president, also the chancellor of CUET, urged all concerned to give importance to offset the adverse impacts of climate change. “Bear in mind that we have to be economically self-reliant to uphold our dignity,” he advised the students and said that the young engineers should utilise their creative thoughts and acquired knowledge for this. Underscoring the need for ensuring proper use of resources, the president said Bangladesh is a country with immense potentials as it has huge human resources and fertile arable land. Utilization of these resources in a planned way must be ensured for the development of this populous country, he added.
The president urged all to put diligent effort to materialise the dream of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to build a happy and prosperous Bangladesh in line with Vision-2021 and Vision-2041 and 100-year Delta Plan -2100 designed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Referring to teacher-student relations, he said, “The teachers should be more affectionate… friendly relations between students and teachers can play an effective role to maintain a congenial academic atmosphere in varsities.”
Congratulating the new graduates of CUET, he reminded them about their responsibility for the country as well as the people and asked them to work with devotion, honesty and sincerity for the welfare of the country. A total of 2,231 graduates were conferred degrees. Two of them achieved Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree and three students were given gold medals for their outstanding academic results. Convocation Speaker former chairman of University Grant Commission (UGC) Dr AK Azad Chowdhury, UGC Chairman Prof Dr Kazi Shahidullah, CUET Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, secretaries concerned to the president and graduates’ family members, among others, were also present there.