Appreciating the role of Bangladesh Army in combating the ongoing global pandemic COVID-19, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday expressed the hope that such sincere efforts of the Army would continue.
Terming the members of the Bangladesh Army the frontline fighters, she said the role of the army in the fight against the coronavirus is very remarkable.
I hope, this sincere efforts would continue, the Prime Minister said.
The head of the government was addressing the Army Headquarters Selection Board-2021 at Army Headquarters Multi-Purpose Complex in the capital, via Video Teleconference (VTC) from her official residence Ganabhaban in the city.
Chief of Army Staff General S M Shafiuddin Ahmed delivered the address of welcome at the meeting.
The six-day activities of the Army Headquarters Selection Board-2021 began Thursday for the promotion of army officers.
This board will decide on the promotion from Colonel to Brigadier General and from Lieutenant Colonel to Colonel. This board consisted of the highest policy-making officers of the army will select the qualified and efficient officers for future senior leadership of the army with the approval of the government.
At the beginning of the program, Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed thanked the Prime Minister and expressed his gratitude to her.
Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim also briefed media about the meeting.
In her inaugural speech, the Prime Minister said that the meeting of the army selection board which is being held in this glorious year of the golden jubilee of country’s independence and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary, carries a special significance.
She further said the dream of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to build a golden Bangla free from hunger and poverty is no longer a dream but a reality.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said a disciplined and modern army always plays a very helpful role to consolidate the country’s democracy.
“That is why, army’s leadership must be entrusted to professional and responsible officers who are always imbued with the ideology of the great War of Liberation and ready to sacrifice their highest for the protection of sovereignty,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said that she was very happy to know that the promotion of army officers is being given following TRACE (Tabulated Record and Comparative Evaluation) method which reveals a comparative assessment of various aspects of their professionalism.
“At the same time, I believe the adjudicators by standing above their personal likings and dislikings would select the right person for promotion through wisdom and prudent analysis,” she said, adding, “You (adjudicators) just have to be neutral and influence-free to find out the capable leadership.”
The Prime Minister said appropriate officers should be promoted to various important posts such as command, staff, trainer, and it will increase the acceptance of all.
Mentioning that discipline is the backbone of the army, she laid emphasis on finding honest, disinterested, fair, people-friendly, humane and successful officers who demonstrated leadership in various fields of their career in the case of promotion.
She said the Awami League government always runs the country as the servant of the people, never as a ruler.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh Army had started its progress due to the sincere efforts of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In continuation of the progress journey, the army has now become a highly professional, efficient and modern force due to intensive care from her government, she said.
“Our army has been working very efficiently in various development and public welfare activities, including containing the recent coronavirus pandemic, which is really commendable. Not only at home, the Army has brought a rare honour and dignity for the country from the world stage,” she said.
The Prime Minister said that in the last 12 and a half years, her government carried out massive development in the three forces.
She said in keeping pace with the developed world, the government has incorporated state-of-the-art weapons, military aircraft and helicopters as well as modern infantry gadgets and engineering equipment.
On the basis of the defence policy formulated by Bangabandhu, she said, they have formulated the new “National Defence Policy, 2018”, which has been approved by the cabinet.
Bangladesh has now become one of the highest contributors of peacekeepers in the world, she continued.
Sheikh Hasina briefly highlighted her government’s development initiatives for the armed forces during 1996-2000 and 2009 to present time.
She said they have established National Defence College (NDC), Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operations Training (BIPSOT), Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Bangladesh Peace Building Center (BPC), and new brigades, units and battalions.
She went on saying that the government also procured a sufficient number of Armored Personnel Carriers (APC), Armored Recovery Vehicles (ARV), battle tanks, helicopters and other necessary armaments and equipment in the army.
The government formulated the “Forces Goal-2030” and has been implementing it with the aim of building a state-of-the-art, trained and up-to-date military force, she added.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh is ranked among the top five countries in the world in terms of economic progress and at present the country is the 41st largest economy in the world.
She underlined the successes of her government such as trimming down poverty rate below 20.5 percent, increasing per capita income to $ 2,227, implementation of mega projects which are progressing fast even during the coronavirus pandemic, modernization of all communication systems and sending Bangabandhu Satellite-1 into the space.
Sheikh Hasina said the government is celebrating “Mujib Barsho” in 2020-2021 and celebrated the golden jubilee of independence on March 18-26, 2021 where the world leaders highly praised Bangladesh's progress.
“We are working on the principle of ‘zero tolerance' to eradicate militancy, terrorism and drugs, and we have formulated the second perspective plan to achieve the 'Sustainable Development Goals' by 2030 and to build a hunger-poverty-free developed and prosperous Bangladesh by 2041. In addition, ‘Bangladesh Delta Plan-2100’ has also been adopted,” she said.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh’s economy is moving up when the world is standing dormant in this Covid-19 -gripped period.
She said her government is providing homes to landless and homeless people while electricity has been provided to 99 percent of the people.
Senior officials who are engaged with the Army Promotion Boards received the Prime Minister's instructions at the inaugural ceremony via VTC. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Kaikaus, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Dr Md Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division Lieutenant General Waker-Uz-Zaman, and Prime Minister's Military Secretary Major General Naquib Ahmed Chowdhury were also present.
At the end of the inaugural program, the Prime Minister exchanged views separately and greetings with the senior officers of the Army.
