Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said that since opposition BNP has a history of tainted polls it has no right now to raise question about election. “The history of elections during BNP regimes is so much contaminated… they do not have any right to talk about election,” she said while addressing a discussion arranged by Awami League to mark her homecoming from exile in India in 1981. Held at the party’s central office at 23 Bangabandhu Avenue she joined the programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban. Hasina mentioned how the BNP government rigged the Magura parliamentary bye-election in 1994 to snatch away the victory of her party’s candidate. Also read: PM Hasina: Focus on nature, environment in development of Cox's Bazar The blatant rigging, she said, triggered a popular movement to force Khaleda Zia’s government to quit and hand over power to a neutral caretaker government to hold the parliamentary election. She also referred to the February 15 parliamentary election Khaleda held in 1996 which was boycotted by the opposition parties and shunned by voters. Similarly elections were rigged by BNP in 1981 and by Ziaur Rahman in 1977, 1978 and1979, Hasina said. She said that BNP, knowing quite well that they would suffer a huge defeat in the next general election, is now trying to make it questionable Hasina also wondered about the leadership of BNP. “BNP has no leadership at all, all are convicted criminals, it is not possible to win any election by convicted criminals,” she said adding, she has a question regarding BNP’s recent move about the election.“If people do not respond to their movement, who will be held responsible for that,” she wondered. She said that the development of the election system was the brainchild of the Awami League. She mentioned about the voters’ list with picture, transparent ballot box and EVM. “We want to establish the right to vote by the voters. So their (BNP) concern is just meaningless,” she said. Hasina, also the chief of the ruling Awami League, said her party has been elected by the people. It has returned the voting rights to the people. “Awami League has returned the people’s democratic right to them. That is its biggest strength and as we are in power by that strength we are working for the people,” she said.

The 42nd anniversary of the ruling Awami League president and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s homecoming from exile was observed in Bangladesh on Tuesday. On this day in 1981, Hasina returned home from India after nearly six years in exile following the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members by a cabal of army officers on August 15, 1975. Read: AL to observe Hasina’s coming home from exile on Tuesday Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana survived as they were in Germany at the time. The two sisters were forced to live in exile till Hasina was elected the president of the Awami League in her absence in the party's national council held on February 14-16, 1981. After landing at Dhaka’s Kurmitola airport on the rain-swept afternoon on May 17, Hasina addressed a huge rally at Manik Miah Avenue where she vowed to dedicate her life to the restoration of democracy and fulfil Bangabndhu’s "unfinished task of building Bangladesh into a ‘Sonar Bangla’, a land of prosperity". To mark the day, the Awami League and its front and associated bodies, organised discussions and other programmes, highlighting the significance of her return and how she changed the political and development landscape of Bangladesh as the Prime Minister. Read: Spanish President lauds Bangladesh’s growth Special prayers were held at mosques and other places of worship across the country seeking blessings for Hasina. The Hindu community also arranged a prayer programme at the Dhakeshwari temple in the capital at 10am and the Buddhist community at the International Buddhist monastery temple at Merul Badda at 9.30am. The Christian community's programme is scheduled at the YMCA Church in Mirpur-10 at 6pm.

Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi on Monday paid homage to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, marking the great leader’s historic return to independent Bangladesh from Pakistan jail. The defeated Pakistani rulers were compelled to free Bangabandhu in the early hours of 8 January 1972. He landed in London in the morning on the same day. There he immediately agreed to accept Bangladesh's membership to the Commonwealth at the proposal of its Secretary-General. The Father of the Nation touched the ground of his beloved motherland at noon on 10 January 1972 with a short stopover in Delhi in the morning. Officials and staff of the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi started the programme by laying wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. READ: Bangabandhu remembered on Homecoming Day Embassy officials led by High Commissioner Muhammad Imran paid homage to Bangabandhu placing wreaths at the Chancery premises. Later a discussion meeting was organized at Bangabandhu auditorium of the High Commission.

Reminiscing the homecoming of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 40 years back, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq on Monday paid tributes to this historical moment, saying that she ‘turned Bangladesh away from the darkness’ on this day. "Forty years ago, today, you turned Bangladesh away from the darkness, and shone your light on the path towards democracy, development, and a decent life for its people. There's still a long way to go, but none of it would have been possible without your return. Thank you," grandson of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman wrote on his official Facebook page. His words were accompanied by the time-travelled image of a 40-year-old poster on her return at the airport at 3:00 pm on May 17, 1981.  The historical day marked the end of the six years of agonising wait by Sheikh Hasina, a survivor of the assassinated family, to return to the country.  Also read: Another chance to watch "Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale" Monday All the ordeals, encountered by her and her sister Sheikh Rehana, set in on August 15, 1975, when the news crossed oceans to them that their entire family had been gunned down by some disgruntled army officers at their residence in Bangladesh. Her struggle in these six years was portrayed in detail by the globally acclaimed docufiction, ‘Hasina: A Daughter's Tale’, co-produced by Radwan. The 70-minute docudrama captures a brief history of the tumultuous path the country has traversed through the first account narrative of two sisters. Radwan is a trustee of Centre for Research and information, a not-for-profit think-tank that has taken up efforts to present history with a captivating style of storytelling for the younger generation. Another initiative, Mujib graphic novel, under CRI, the first-ever graphic novel on a towering figure in the country, has reportedly captivated the kids with the life and work on Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, based on his autobiography. Also read: 2-day exhibition marking Sheikh Hasina’s homecoming begins in city Besides, CRI has introduced Young Bangla that turned out over the years as a leading platform for the youths aiming to give a platform for the policymakers and youths.

Speakers at a discussion on Friday said the homecoming of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman strengthened the foundation of Bangladesh’s independence.

Countdown will start on January 10 to celebrate the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said Wednesday.