I Expect BCL Will Be Guided By Its Ideology: PM At 28th BCL Conference

She said BCL leaders should never deviate from the organization's inherent ideology and motto. Student politics must be based on ideology, which should be founded on the spirit of the country's War of Liberation, she said.

Student leaders must have the aptitude for learning, peace and progress side by side they have to be guided by sacrificial attitude," she added.

Addressing the 28th Conference of BCL, associate student organization of Bangladesh Awami League, as the chief guest, Sheikh Hasina said, "I expect that BCL will be guided by its ideology and BCL leaders will always be on the road of education, peace and progressiveness."

Highlighting the role of the BCL in the country's war of liberation, all democratic movements and struggle for building a peaceful and harmonious society, the Prime Minister said, every achievement of the Bengali nation came out of the sacrifice of the BCL leaders and workers.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh Chhatra League is one of the oldest student organizations of the subcontinent which earned freedom for the nation and worked for making the independence and democracy sustainable amidst intimidation of the military dictators during pre and post independence period.

She expressed her firm conviction that leaders of Chharta League would not blindly follow the ewe at the head without looking to the merits and demerits but to go ahead setting the aim of their life for their own development and prosperity of the nation.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, who is very highly regarded for his valiant role in the 1969 mass-upsurge as a student leader, Minister for Road Communication and Bridges and former president of the organization Obaidul Qader and Minister for Public Administration and General Secretary of the Awami League Syed Ashraful Islam attended the function as special guests.

President of the BCL Badiuzzaman Sohag presided over the function held at Suharawardy Uddyan while general secretary Siddiqui Nazmul Alam presented the organizational report. Convener of the conference preparatory committee Joydeep Nandi, vice president Suman Kunda and Abdul Qader Mohiuddin Mahin also spoke on the occasion while office secretary Sheikh Russell read an obituary resolution for late leaders and workers of the organization.

Councilors from 110 organizational units of the BCL from home and abroad are taking part in the conference.

Urging the BCL leaders to remain careful about the dignity of the organization, Sheikh Hasina said regular meritorious students under 29 years should steer the organization. She urged the councilors to elect the regular and talented students as the next leaders of the organization.

Sheikh Hasina said the history of Chhatra League and Bangladesh is identical. Bangabandhu founded the student front when the Pakistani rulers had attempted to snatch the right of the Bengali people to speak in their mother language. BCL was founded at time of the of language movement to establish Bangla as the state language.

Since its inception, the BCL has been playing catalytic role in every movement. The highest number of BCL activists being faithful to the ideology of Bangabandhu, have shed their bloods for the cause of the nation for every national achievement including the War of Liberation, she said.

Terming the present BCL leaders as the future leaders of the country and the Awami League, the prime minister said she always suffer from the grief that she could not get any post in the central committee of the BCL despite her presence in all movements and being elected vice president of Eden Intermediate Girls' College defying the conspiracy of the Pakistani rulers.

BCL was the forerunner of all movements of the Father of the Nation and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman formed nucleus in 1962 with the leaders of the BCL for organizing the war of liberation across the country and imbue people with the spirit of the liberation, she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the BCL also played a pioneering role in protest against the killing of Bangabandhu in 1975. In all movements after the 1975 political episode, BCL had to overcome a hard time of the rule of military regimes leading to killing and disappearance of its many leaders and workers including Jubo League leader Moulavi Syed, general secretary of BCL Dhaka City unit Mahfuj Babu.

The prime minister said Bangladesh is moving ahead as Awami League is working for the nation with the spirit of sacrifice. She said the government has attached importance to education as poverty eradication is not possible without educating the people.

"Illiterate leaders have no vision, dream, farsightedness or goal. They can give nothing to the nation, which has already been proved during 2001-2006 period," she said. So, education should be the foremost priority for the every BCL activist, she said adding meritorious students should be the leaders of the BCL, she said.

Urging the BCL workers to be dedicated to peace, the Prime Minister said only the peace can show the path of development and prosperity to the nation. She said terrorism and militancy reigned supreme for long before Awami League had come to power in 1996, rattling the educational institutions and different parts of the country with firearms and explosions. Awami League handled the situation with strong hands to curb terrorism and militancy and establish peaceful academic atmosphere

She urged the BCL leaders and workers to remain careful to maintain peaceful atmosphere in the educational institutions so that academic activities can be conducted without any disturbance, quality of education can be pursued and Bangladesh can be built as a peaceful country in future.

The prime minister said Bangladesh must go ahead keeping pace with the world. But, unfortunately, the gruesome killing of 1975 had cast a shadow on the bright future of the Bengali nation, moving away the country from its development path.

"Bangladesh would have been a prosperous country and set an example of development much earlier if Bangabandhu was alive," the prime minister said adding that all governments after 1975 pushed back the country and the killing of Bangabandhu led Bangladesh to frustrate its aspirations and development goals.

Reiterating her commitment to build a 'Digital Bangladesh', Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh moved a far in this way. Internet services were made available in every university and digital centers were set up in every union, where many youths have found their jobs. She urged the youths to be equipped with technology and proceed to the path of progressiveness.

Pointing out the steps taken by her government for overall development of the country the prime minister said at least one university would be constructed in every district while every upazila and district would have a government school and college. She expressed her firm optimism that Bangladesh would celebrate the golden jubilee of its independence as a middle income country.