Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that East Bengal was pioneer in all fields starting from education. But we were deprived. Bangabandhu has struggled against this deprivation. Through that struggle we got freedom.
She said that all the earnings would have come from this region, but West Pakistan would have benefited. Bangabandhu had always spoken of realizing this right. Bengalis were deprived of jobs, economy and education. Seventy percent of the income accrued from this region was spent in West Pakistan.
She said this on the occasion of 'Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 6-point Charter of Liberation of Bengalis' in connection with the historic 6-point day on Sunday (June 7).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, I respectfully remember the program that was adopted for the six-point movement on June 7, 1966 and those who gave their lives in the hands of the Pakistani rulers to make that six-point movement a success.
She said the demand was made by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to establish the rights of the Bengali nation. The main point of the six-point demand was to protect the people of our country, to make them economically self-sufficient, to protect the region in terms of socio-economic development and defense. At the same time the demand for the existence of Bengalis was raised. Many were reluctant to make that claim. Sadly, many Bangalee leaders then opposed this legaldemand.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu was arrested eight times from different places for demanding six points. He was last arrested from his Dhanmondi home. No bail was granted.
The Prime Minister said, I don't know of any nation in the world that has so quickly taken up any demand in this way. It gained so much popularity because the people of East Bengal took it as their right to live.