Sheikh Hasina's 77th birthday today

The 77th birthday of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the president of ruling Awami League, will be celebrated today (Thursday), report agencies.

Hasina, the eldest among the five children of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, was born at Tungipara in Gopalganj on September 28 in 1947.

The premier is now in the USA where she addressed the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) besides joining a host of other events.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin wished sound health, long life, peace, progress and continued wellbeing of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the occasion of her 77th birthday.

"I extend my heartiest greetings and warm congratulations to Bangladesh Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," he said in a message on the eve of her birthday.

Bangabandhu Parishad also greeted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her birthday.

In a joint statement, Bangabandhu Parishad President Prof Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique and its General Secretary ABM Faruq said Bangladesh could not have achieved its independence if Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujbur Rahman did not born, while if Sheikh Hasina did not return home in 1981, the name, identity and nature of Bangladesh, which achieved independence through great War of Liberation, would have been changed.

Awami League and its affiliated and likeminded organisations will celebrate the 77th birthday (76th birth anniversary) through various programmes focusing on her life, works and success.

The day celebration will be marked by doa, milad and special prayers in the capital and elsewhere in the country.

The doa and milad will be held at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque and all other mosques throughout the country after Zuhr prayers, while special prayers will be offered at different temples, churches and pagodas.

AL will organise a doa-mahfil at its central office in the capital's Bangabandhu Avenue after Asr prayers to mark the day. Besides, special prayers will be arranged at Merul Badda Buddhist Monastery and Mirpur Baptist Church at 9 am, and Dhakeshwari Temple at 11 am on Thursday. AL central leaders will be in the programmes, said a press release on Wednesday.

AL will arrange a discussion at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city on Friday afternoon on the occasion of the birthday of its President Sheikh Hasina. AL presidium member Engineer Mosharraf Hossain will preside over the discussion.

PM Hasina assumed office on 7 January, 2019, for the fourth time and third time in a row after her party-led grand alliance won the 11th parliamentary election held on December 30, 2018.

She served as the prime minister for the first time in 1996-2001, second term in 2009-2013, and the third term in 2014-2018. Hasina served as the Leader of Opposition thrice.

Hasina spent much of her childhood in her birthplace Tungipara in Gopalganj district. When Bangabandhu was elected a legislator, his family moved to Dhaka in 1954. She graduated from the University of Dhaka in 1973.

Having a chequered political career, Sheikh Hasina was elected vice-president of the Students Union of the Government Intermediate Girls College when she contested as a candidate from the Students League.

Later, she served as secretary and then as president of the college unit of the Student League. She was also a member of the Students League at Dhaka University and became the secretary of the Rokeya Hall unit. She actively participated in all mass movements from her student life.

Bangabandhu, along with the members of his family, was brutally assassinated on the fateful night of August 15, 1975. Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived the carnage as they were in Germany at that time.

Sheikh Hasina was unanimously elected as the president of Bangladesh Awami League in 1981 in her absence while she was in forced exile. She finally returned home on May 17, 1981, ending her six years in exile.

She faced the wrath of the then rulers on her return as she launched a movement to restore democracy in the country. Sheikh Hasina was detained time and again, and at least 22 attempts were made on her life.