Saturday, October 24 2009

The Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting begins in Port-of-Spain on November 27 and continues for three days.

Fifty-one heads or their representatives will assemble at The Hyatt for the talks.

Two countries have been suspended - the Fiji Islands which was suspended from membership on September 21, 2009 and Nauru, which is in arrears.

We continue today with a daily feature on the Commonwealth and will feature the Heads of these States who are expected in Port-of-Spain in November.



SHEIKH HASINA, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, 59, was elected to office in 1996. “Father of the Nation” Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with the members of his family was martyred on the fateful night of August 15, 1975.

Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana were the only survivors as they were in West Germany at that time. Later she went to the United Kingdom from where she started her movement against the autocratic rule in 1980. Hasina was unanimously elected President of Bangladesh Awami League in 1981 in her absence, while she was forced to live in exile in New Delhi. Ending six years in exile, she returned home finally on May 17, 1981.

Following the election of 1991 Hasina became Leader of the Opposition in the country’s Fifth Parliament, she steered all the political parties in the parliament towards changing the Presidential system into the Parliamentary one.

After becoming the Prime Minister, Hasina adopted a number of pragmatic policies for overall development of the nation including poverty alleviation. During the last four years her government achieved laudable success including signing of the historic 30 year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with India.

Hasina was conferred Degree of Doctor of Law by the Boston University of the USA on February 6, 1997 and Honorary Doctor of Law by the Waseda University of Japan on July 4, 1997. She was also conferred the Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Liberal Arts by University of Abertay Dundee of the United Kingdom on October 25, 1997. She was conferred Honorary Degree of Desikottama (Doctor of Literature, honoris causa) by Visva-Bharati University of West Bengal, India on January 28, 1999. She was also conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on the ground of her distinguished creative contributions in the service of society by the Australian National University on October 20, 1999. Dhaka University conferred Honorary ‘Doctor of Laws’ degree to Hasina on December 18, 1999 for her outstanding contribution towards peace and democracy. The World famous Catholic University of Brussels, Belgium conferred Honorary Doctorate degree (Doctor Honoris Causa) on Hasina in February, 2000 for her decisive role in establishing democracy, protecting human rights and peace. Hasina has been conferred Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the Bridgeport University, USA on September 5, 2000.

She has been awarded UNESCO’s Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize for 1998 for her contribution to bringing peace through ending the 25 years of conflict in Chittagong Hill Tracts with political courage and statesmanship.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received prestigious Pearl S Buck Award ‘99 on April 9, 2000 in recognition of her vision, courage, achievements in political, economic and humanitarian fields by Randolph Macon Women’s College of USA. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has been awarded the prestigious CERES’ medal to Prime Minister Hasina in recognition to her fight against hunger on August 2, 1999. The All India Peace Council awarded her ‘’Mother Teresa Award’ in 1998. The Mahatma M K Gandhi Foundation of Oslo, Norway awarded Sheikh Hasina ‘M K Gandhi Award’ for 1998 for her contribution towards promotion of communal understanding, non violent religions harmony and growth of democracy at the level of grass-root in Bangladesh. The prime minister was named Paul Haris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. She was also given Medal of Distinction in 1996-97 and 1998-99 and Head of State Medal in 1996-97 by the International Association of Lions Clubs.

She has authored several books including Why are they Street Children, The Origin of Autocracy, Miles to Go Elimination of Poverty and Some Thoughts, People and Democracy, My Dream My Struggle and Development for the Masses.

Hasina is the Chairperson of “The Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust.” She has been helping a lot of poor boys and girls for their education.

Her quest for peace has taken her to India and Pakistan to talk to the leaders of these two countries soon after the nuclear test urging reduction of tension in the region.

Prime Minister Hasina has been a strong advocate for the Culture of Peace at global, regional and national levels. In many major conferences, she espoused the concept of the Culture of Peace, most recently in South Africa at the 12th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which has a membership of 114 countries.

Bangladesh is the seventh most populous country and is among the most densely populated countries in the world with a high poverty rate. However, per-capita (inflation-adjusted) GDP has more than doubled since 1975, and the poverty rate has fallen by 20% since the early 1990s. The country is listed among the “Next Eleven” economies. Dhaka, the capital, and other urban centers have been the driving force behind this growth.