DHAKA: Awami League, the country's oldest political party, has celebrated its 71st founding anniversary today (June 23).

Founded on June 23, 1949, at the historic Rose Garden in the old part of Dhaka, the party played the lead role in all the democratic movements apart from leading the nation in the War of Liberation in 1971 under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Awami League, one of the country’s oldest political parties, has marked its founding anniversary digitally this year due to the ongoing wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The party also led the 1952 Language Movement and fought successfully against exploitation, disparity and violation of basic human rights with a massive public support.

Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and Shamsul Huq were unanimously elected president and general secretary respectively of the new political party that emerged as a rival of then ruling Muslim League.

The newly formed Awami League also elected Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the joint secretary of the party.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came to the leadership of the party through the 1966 council session and became the unparallel and undisputed leader of Bengali nation.

After the Liberation War in 1971, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman started work to build Bangladesh as a non-communal and prosperous country.

Under the dynamic leadership of Awami League president and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the government sets a target to turn the country into a peaceful abode in South Asia by establishing good governance and carrying out balanced development.

Sheikh Hasina in a message greeted people as well as leaders and activists of the party.

“We’ll turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021 and developed one before 2041... and will be able to celebrate the golden jubilee of the country’s independence in 2021,” Sheikh Hasina said.

To mark the day, Awami League has hoisted national and party flags at its all offices across the country.

Party leaders and activists placed wreaths at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the premises of Bangabandhu Bhaban at Dhanmondi in the morning.

Several webinars and meetings have also been arranged through social network websites on the occasion of the party’s founding anniversary.

BDST: 1946 HRS, JUN 23, 2020
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