Today was Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 44th homecoming day.
After a protracted exile, she returned to the nation on May 17, 1981.
At 430 p.m. on that day, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina arrived at the then-Kurmitola Airport in this location after traveling via Kolkata to the Indian capital of New Delhi on an Indian Airlines flight.
To commemorate Sheikh Hasina’s return, the ruling Awami League (AL) planned a number of extravagant events.
The party leaders welcomed Sheikh Hasina, the oldest child of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, at her Ganabhaban home here at nine in the morning as part of the programs.
Leaders and workers of AL associate and like-minded bodies also greeted her with bouquet.
A discussion was held at Dhaka District AL Bhaban in the city’s Tejgaon area this afternoon with AL Presidium Member Engineer Mosharraf Hossain in the chair.
AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader and other central leaders also addressed the discussion.
Marking the day, Jubo League, Chhatra League, Krishak League, Swechchhasebak League, Mohila Awami League and Jubo Mohila League and other like-minded bodies also organized different programmes.
The programmes included discussion, doa and milad mahfil seeking sound health and long life of Sheikh Hasina, food distribution among orphans and destitute people.
In honor of the day, the relief and social welfare subcommittee of AL also planned a food distribution event.
Food was given to the orphans at the Rahim Ullah Orphanage at Beraid in Badda, the Sobhanbag Masjid Orphanage, the Salimullah Muslim Orphanage in Mohammadpur, and the Rahim Ullah Orphanage at Salimullah Road.
Food was also given to the orphans living in the orphanages next to the Chattogram orphanage, Hazrat Shah Amanat (R) Mazar, and the Sylhet orphanage, Hazrat Shahjalal (R) Mazar (shrine).
On this day, mosques, temples, churches, and pagodas all held special prayers and doa. Following Jummah prayers, doa was offered at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.
Christian Community held special prayer at Mirpur Baptist Church at 9 am while Buddhist Community at International Buddhist Monastery in the city’s Merul Badda at 10 am and Hindu Community at Dhakeshwari National Temple at 11.30 am.
Marking the day, Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud will distribute food among the inmates of Chattogram’s Kadam Mobarak Orphanage tomorrow (Saturday).
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was brutally killed along with most of his family members on August 15 in 1975 and his two daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana luckily escaped the brutal assassination as they stayed abroad.
Sheikh Hasina was elected as the party’s president during an Awami League national council session held on February 14, 15, and 16 of that year. She left the country on May 17 and returned on May 17.
That day, a sizable crowd had assembled outside Dhaka’s Kurmitola Airport to greet Sheikh Hasina. They had traveled from all across the nation, and the entire stretch of the city from the Farmgate point to Kurmitola was lined with joyful people.
After a long hovering over the airport, an aircraft of Indian Airlines carrying Sheikh Hasina from New Delhi via Kolkata, touched the runway at 4:30 pm.
“I have returned to the country not to become a leader of the Awami League, rather to participate in the struggle for freedom by staying beside the people,” said the AL president in a heart touching reception awarded by nearly 1.5 million people at the airport at that time.
She added: “I want to stay beside you as your sister, as your daughter, and as a worker of Awami League, who believes in the ideals of Bangabandhu.”
