She is celebrating her birthday at home for the first time since 2008.

The Prime Minister was born on September 28, 1947 - the eldest of the five children of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Begum Fazilatunnesa, in the village of Tungipara in Gopalganj.

Like previous years, Awami League and its affiliated organisations are celebrating the day through various programmes.

More-or-less every year from 2009 to 2019, her birthday was spent in New York City or its surrounding areas, where she would be attending the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, held every September.

This year, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced world leaders to resort to online meetings or send in their recorded messages for the centrepiece event that stretches till the end of the month.

Marking her birthday, different programmes including doa and milad-mahfils, special prayers, photo exhibitions and discussions are being organised in the capital and different parts of the country maintaining the health guidelines amid the pandemic.

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As part of the AL central programmes, a special doa and milad-mahfil will be held with participation of a limited number of leaders at the party’s central office in the city’s Bangabandhu Avenue at 3:30pm.

Besides, the doa and milad-mahfil will be held at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque centrally and all other mosques throughout the country after Zahr prayer.

Special prayers were offered at International Buddhist Monastery (Bihar) at Merul Badda, Christian Association Bangladesh (CAB) Mirpur Baptist Church, Jakmala Rani Church at Tejgaon and Dhakeshwari Temple.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended heartiest congratulations to Sheikh Hasina on the eve of her 73rd birthday. The Communist Party of China, too, greeted Hasina on the occasion.