Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today urged everyone to contributefrom their respective positions to building a better Bangladesh, saying that collective effortsand shared commitment are essential to turning that vision into reality.
“We all dream of a beautiful Bangladesh, but to build a successful country, we must work for it.
This is the work that Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman began,” he said.
The Prime Minister made the remarks while addressing a programme as the chief guest marking the 27th anniversary of the Ziaur Rahman Foundation (ZRF) at the Shaheed Abu Sayeed International Convention Centre in the capital.
Recalling the foundation’s journey, Tarique Rahman said it began in 1999, while he wrote its slogan – “One initiative and a little effort can bring prosperity and make the country self-reliant” – in 2003.
“It has taken us 27 years to reach this point. We wanted to work for people, and we have done so. If we remain united, we can turn our slogan into reality and reach people through collective efforts,” he said.
The Prime Minister, who is also president of the foundation, said that after the assassination of his father, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, he reflected on the initiatives his father had taken in politics and public service.
He said Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman had restored multiparty democracy, which had been suppressed, ensured press freedom and people’s voting rights, and worked to support farmers, strengthen the country’s industrial base, spread education and empower women.
Tarique Rahman said the foundation was established to carry forward his father’s work beyond the political arena and bring its benefits to more people.
When the ZRF began its journey in 1999, the BNP was not in power and could not implement its plans through the government, he said, adding that the party had continued to raise issues concerning people’s hardships, national problems and democracy, while its leaders and activists faced persecution.
He said the foundation had sought to advance Ziaur Rahman’s initiatives in education, agriculture, women’s empowerment and environmental protection.
“We have tried to take education to people, support farmers by helping provide them with crop seeds, and make disadvantaged and working women in rural areas economically self-reliant,” he said.
Tarique Rahman also highlighted the foundation’s tree-planting activities, saying it had planted several lakh trees in Dhaka and had earlier planted 80,000 neem trees.
He said politics is ultimately about serving people, but individuals could also contribute to society outside politics.
“That is why we established the Ziaur Rahman Foundation 27 years ago – to create a platform for serving people and society alongside politics,” he said.
Congratulating the foundation’s members and workers, the Prime Minister said the ZRF was a non-political organisation but had faced various obstacles, and some of its members had beensubjected to different forms of harassment.
He said the willingness to help others is more important than wealth or material means.
“There are many wealthy people in Bangladesh and around the world who use their resources only for their own interests. If they devoted even a small portion of their wealth to society, people, animals and nature, they could bring comfort and happiness to many,” he said.
“Money is not always the main thing, nor is one’s capacity. The most important thing is the will – the will and the determination to act,” he said, expressing confidence that every member of the foundation had the desire to bring a smile to someone’s face.
The Prime Minister urged the members to make it their goal to bring a smile to at least one person for as long as they remained healthy and capable of working.
Conducted by Professor Dr Sarkar Mahbub Ahmed Shamim, member-secretary of the foundation’s 27th anniversary celebration committee, it was also addressed by Prof Dr Morshed Hasan Khan, the foundation’s director and convener of the committee.
The event began with the recitation of the Holy Quran, followed by screening of a documentary reflecting the foundation’s humanitarian activities.
BNP Acting Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, BNP Standing Committee member and lawmaker Selima Rahman, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Social Welfare Minister Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, Food Minister Afroza Khanam, State Minister for Land Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin and ZRF Executive Director Prof Dr Farhad Halim Donar, among others, attended the event.
The ZRF began its journey as a non-profit voluntary organisation on October 18, 1999. Tarique Rahman, now the Prime Minister and BNP chairman, established the foundation in memory of his father, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman.
Guided by the slogan, “One initiative and a little effort can bring prosperity and make the country self-reliant,” the foundation works to support poor and disadvantaged people.
Its key activities include providing free medical treatment to poor and disadvantaged patients; building homes and distributing cattle, goats, poultry and sewing machines to help financially insolvent people become self-reliant; establishing medical and healthcare centres; and distributing winter clothing, crop seeds and safe drinking water.
The foundation also undertakes social forestry, flood control and irrigation rehabilitation projects, provides educational stipends and organises virtual science fairs.
The foundation has also carried out different humanitarian activities during natural disasters and earned recognition across the country through its service to disadvantaged communities.
