The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday decided to investigate the allegations of Tk 60,000 cr embezzlement against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and niece Tulip Siddique. ACC spokesperson Aktarul Islam said the decision was taken following a complaint of chairman of Nationalist Democratic Movement Bobby Hajjaj. On December 15, the High Court issued a rule seeking explanation as to why the inaction of the ACC in probing the allegations of graft against Sheikh Hasina, her son Joy and niece Tulip in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project should not be decaled illegal. Read: Enforced Disappearances Commission submits report finding Hasina’s involvement, recommends disbanding RAB The High Court bench of Justice Fahmida Kader and Justice Mubina Asaf issued the rule  following a writ petition in this regard. The writ petition, filed on September 3 by Bobby Hajjaj, Chairman of the National Democratic Movement (NDM), sought an investigation into the alleged embezzlement  of Tk 60,000 crore from the RNPP through a Malaysian bank by them. Fourteen people including Secretary of Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, ACC Chairman, Sheikh Hasina, Sajib Wazed Joy and Tulip Siddique were made respondents to the rule.

In the first international call for justice against the assassins of Bangabandhu and four national leaders, Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Rehana raised the demand at an international conference in 1979 in Sweden's Stockholm, a historic beginning that culminated in success, long after, during the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, said speakers. On May 10, 1979, she turned the global attention to the darkest chapter in the country's history through a speech at an all-European Bakshal conference, participated by European country heads, the UN chief, and international NGO high-ups in Stockholm. That incident goes down in the annals of history as the voice for global pressure on the then-Bangladeshi government was raised through that emotion-choked rendition, they added. Speakers reflected on the event at a virtual meeting, organized by all-European Awami League on Tuesday night. Also read: Animation film on Bangabandhu screened in New York

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina along with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana on Wednesday offered prayers at the graves of the martyred family members of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Banani. PM's Assistant Press Secretary MM Emrul Kayas said the daughters of Bangabandu offered fateha and munajat for their family members during the visit to Banani graveyard in the morning. Also read: PM condoles death of Kishoreganj AL leader

The team that put together the Mujib Graphic Novel had two editors who constantly chipped in with suggestions-- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana.  They were cheered up when they found Hasina's edit notes on the draft of the Graphic Novel that was to bring to life Bangabandhu's amazing life story as a comic. Mujib Graphic Novel is the first of its kind in the country to present the life story of a political legend in the form of comics. Based on the unfinished memoirs of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the graphic novel, a CRI publication, narrates the story of an ordinary village boy with an extraordinary dream that made him the founding father of a nation. On one of the pages where a man and a dog were fighting for a piece of bread during the historic 1943-famine, Hasina recommended portraying the man, weak and hungry, as sitting instead of standing, said a media release. On another page featuring Mujib and his father becoming too serious about a football match, she suggested sketching hair on the head of the latter. “Correct my grandfather’s picture. He was not bald and his head was full of hair till the end of his life,” wrote the Prime Minister. Dubbing young Mujib’s famine-time service to humanity as an example for students, she instructed the team to mention that some food was donated by saving on hostel meals. In another part, there was a text saying that Mujib took a tonga (horse-cart) on his journey from a hotel to Taj Mahal. Hasina corrected the text, realizing that such a long distance cannot be covered by a horse-cart. Reflecting on the contribution of Hasina and Rehana, Bangabandhu’s grandson and CRI trustee Radwan Mujib said, “We're lucky that my mother and my aunt (Prime Minister) backed the project from the very beginning. Without them, we couldn’t get this done. I used to give the script and cartoonists’ draft to my mother and aunt. You know how busy my aunt (PM Hasina) is. I used to keep the documents on her table so that she could check those after getting back from the office. "To my surprise, I found, after an hour or two, her observations were written there. Sometimes my team was astonished as they inquired if it was written by Prime Minister herself.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana on Friday made a surprise visit to the Padma Bridge that has set a milestone in the country’s development trajectory. The prime minister reached the Padma Bridge in a convoy around 7:23am and walked about 2 kilometres from pillar-7 to pillar-18 with her sister during the visit, reports UNB Munshiganj correspondent. Later, they had breakfast at Service Area-2 at Jazira Point. The prime minister left for Dhaka around 10am. Dewan Abdul Quader, executive engineer of the Padma Bridge project, said the prime minister was very happy seeing the progress of the bridge, the much-awaited dream project of the nation. Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam, Deputy Commissioner of Munshiganj Kazi Nahid Rasul and Shariatpur Deputy Commissioner Md Parvez Hasan were also present during Sheikh Hasina's visit.

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday paid homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, the place which bears the testimony to the life and work of Bangabandhu. Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Rehana accompanied President Kovind to visit the museum at Dhanmondi 32. He signed the visitors' book kept there after paying respect to Bangabandhu. Rehana also presented Kovind with a set of books. Read:Gifts from President: What Kovind brings for Hasina! Earlier, President Kovind visited the National Martyrs' Memorial in Savar and placed wreathes there, paying tributes to the brave hearts of the Liberation War of Bangladesh. He arrived here on a three-day State visit as a “unique example” of the existing good relations between the two neighbouring countries.

Sheikh Rehana, daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had demanded justice from the people of Bangladesh for the assassination of almost every one of her family -- her father, mother and brothers.  "I demand justice from the people of Bangla," Rehana said in a rare interview published in Chitra Bangla in 1983.  Bangladesh Awami League shared the interview on its verified Facebook page on Monday marking her birthday in which she expressed all her grief that she had harbored since the assassination of her family members.  READ: Sheikh Rehana shares tales of her father's childhood The interview has time-traveled to the page of the ruling Awami League on her 67th birthday at a time when the political landscape is entirely different from that in 1983 as her sister, Sheikh Hasina, later reclaimed her space in the country and became the Prime Minister. 

 

It’s a proud moment for the nation. Bangladesh is celebrating 50 years of its independence and birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the nation to freedom.

Sheikh Rehana, the youngest daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and sister of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday.