Sheikh Hasina’s Homecoming Day Today

The 42nd homecoming day of Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be observed today.

On May 17 in 1981, she returned to the country after a long exile.

Boarding on an aircraft of the Indian Airlines, Sheikh Hasina reached the then Kurmitola Airport in Dhaka from the Indian capital of New Delhi via Kolkata at 4:30 pm on that day.

Bangladesh’s founding president 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 carnage as they stayed abroad.

In a national council session of the Awami League on February 14, 15 and 16 in 1981, Sheikh Hasina was elected as party president in her absence and then she returned to the country on May 17.

‘I have returned to the country not to become a leader of the Awami League, but rather participate in the struggle for freedom by staying beside the people,’ said the AL president in a heart-touching reception accorded 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.’

President Md Abdul Hamid on Monday said that the homecoming of Awami League president Sheikh Hasina paved the way to establish the spirit of the Liberation War, and the values of independence and democracy in the country.

‘Sheikh Hasina’s home return is a milestone in Bangladesh’s history of democracy. Her historic homecoming paved the way to establish the spirit of Liberation War, the values of independence and democracy,’ he said in a message issued on the occasion of the 42nd homecoming day of Sheikh Hasina.

On the occasion of Sheikh Hasina’s homecoming day, various organisations, including the Awami League, will arrange different programmes.

Special dua and prayers will also be offered at mosques, temples, churches and pagodas to mark the day.