Stating that the Awami League has been running the country for the past 15 years with the people's mandate, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the journey of the last 15 years was not smooth at all. Natural and man-made disasters, epidemics, wars, international instability and above all the conspiracies of domestic and foreign powers have repeatedly obstructed our path.
The Prime Minister said this in her address to the nation on Monday (March 25) evening on the occasion of the Great Independence and National Day.
Sheikh Hasina said that the economy of not only our country, but the entire world had come to a standstill due to the corona virus pandemic. In the beginning of 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war began. Due to the imposition of economic embargo-counter-embargo based on this war, developing countries like us are facing extreme crisis. As the production and marketing of daily commodities are disrupted, the normal movement of these commodities is also hampered and the prices of commodities have increased abnormally. At the end of last year, the mass killing of Israeli forces on Palestinians in Gaza was added to this.
Claiming that the terrorists were forced to retreat in the face of people's resistance, the head of government said that atrocities like BNP-Jamaat's nationwide strike-blockade, arson, killing countless people in 2013-14 and 2016 are still deeply scarred in the public mind. BNP and its allies started terrorist activities like hartal-blockade, arson this time around the 12th Jatiyo Sangsad elections. But this time they had to retreat in the face of people's resistance. However, several innocent people lost their lives and property worth hundreds of crores of takas were destroyed in their hands.
The Prime Minister said, we are trying hard to accelerate the progress of the country by facing these internal and international obstacles. It goes without saying that Bangladesh has undergone an unprecedented transformation in the socio-economic sector in the past decade and a half. Bangladesh is moving forward by facing internal and external conflicts. Visible changes are visible today in all sectors including agriculture, industry, education, health, child and maternal mortality, poverty alleviation, infrastructure development, women empowerment. The once poverty-stricken Bangladesh is today a capable emerging economy.
Mentioning that the country can be moved forward even with limited resources with political will and proper planning, he said, Bangladesh today is a shining example in the developing world in terms of socio-economic development. We have been able to meet the expectations of the countrymen to a large extent.