Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday urged the global community to use resources for universal and sustainable development, not for arms, in this critical juncture of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“At this critical juncture in the world, I urge people to use their resources to achieve universal sustainable development without spending resources on arms races. Let’s go down in action, commit to universal peace,” she said.
Dhaka hosted the two-day international conference on the occasion of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of the country’s Independence as part of promoting a culture of peace and tolerance.
Hasina said the coronavirus pandemic has plunged the entire world into a new crisis. “This crisis has proved that no one of us is isolated. There’s no alternative to building an accountable-world order based on the partnership to live peacefully in this world,” she said.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh is always ready to work with all based on mutual respect and understanding to fully embrace the ideals of peace of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The Prime Minister said the Father of the Nation’s philosophy of peace was a far-reaching one and an avenue of lasting peace. “He (Bangabandhu) has proved that freedom from all shackles of deprivation-inequality-exploitation eventually from dependency, and achieving prosperity by ending hunger and poverty may construct this path.
Bangabandhu had also called for upholding a policy of non-alignment and the establishment of friendly relations through ending warfare and arms races to maintain world peace, she said. She said the Father of the Nation in his book, ‘Amar Dekha Nayachin, explained his participation in the Asia-Pacific Peace Conference held in Beijing in 1952 saying, “We’re willing to join the peace conference of those who want peace in the world today. We agree to raise thousands of voices with all those fighting for peace, be it Russia, America, Britain, or China- we want peace.”
Quoting from the speech Bangabandhu delivered while receiving the award in Dhaka on May 23, 1973 Hasina said, “Let me mention here that world peace has been one of the fundamental principles of my philosophy of life. I’ve always been with the oppressed, the exploited and the peace-loving and freedom-loving people in any part of the world. We want peace to reign in every part of the globe. We want it to consolidate.”
The PM said her government signed a peace treaty ending the bloody conflict with the hill tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in 1997. Bangladesh (during the AL regime) first proposed a resolution on the declaration and program of action of a ‘culture of peace’ at the United Nations, which was adopted on September 13, 1999. Accordingly, the UN declared 2000 as the ‘International Year of the Culture of Peace’ and 2001-2010 as an international decade for a ‘Culture of Peace and Non-Violence,’ she said.
After winning the 2008 election, her government executed the verdict of the killers of Bangabandhu, started the trial of war criminals and resolved maritime disputes with neighbouring India and Myanmar through the International Court of Justice, she said.
“We’re proud to be the highest peacekeeper-sending country to the United Nations. We’re also adopted a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism and violent extremism. We’re working closely with the concerned agencies or organizations to maintain a regional and international peaceful environment,” she said.
Hasina said Bangladesh always has unwavering support for the just demands of the Palestinian people.
Despite limited resources, Bangladesh has provided temporary shelter to more than 1.1 million Rohingya from Myanmar. “As a result, it has been possible to avoid a major humanitarian catastrophe in the region. We’re pursuing peaceful diplomacy to repatriate the Rohingya to their homeland,” the PM said.
Mentioning that Bangladesh is now a role model in the world in socio-economic development, she said her government has established the economy of the country on a solid foundation. The size of our economy is now US$ 411 billion and per capita income is US$ 2,554, she added.
“We’re committed to building the self-esteemed, developed, and prosperous ‘Golden Bangladesh’ of the Father of the Nation’s dream for the next generation,” said Hasina, the eldest daughter of Bangabandu.
Chair of the conference’s organising committee Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury presided over the concluding session, while former Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong, former director general of Unesco Irina Bokova, Director for South and Central Asia at Hudson Institute Ambassador Husain Haqqani, Foreign Minister Dr Abdul Momen and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam also spoke on the occasion.
The conference ended with the adoption of a 16-point Dhaka declaration.
