Bangabandhu's 40th Anniversary Of Martyrdom
Awami League General Secretary and Minister for Public Administration Syed Ashraful Islam on Thursday said that on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of martyrdom of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a 40-day programme has been chalked-out that would be observed not on partisan basis but on a broad-based manner attuned to national sentiment.
"Bangabandhu did not belong to any party or particular political quarters but he is the undisputed leader of the masses who created a country and a nation," he said while exchanging views with the editors, senior journalists and media personalities of the country at party President Sheikh Hasina's office in Dhanmondi.
"As a human being, there may be some criticism of Bangabandhu, but it is an un-denying fact that he was instrumental in liberating the country and without him Bangladesh could not have come into being as an independent and a sovereign nation in the global community," the Awami League General Secretary said.
Joint General secretaries of the party Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif and Advocate Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Organizing Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, BM Mojammel, Publicity and Publication Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud, Information and Research Affairs Secretary Advocate Afzal Hossain, Publicity and Publication Deputy Secretary Asim Kumar Ukil and Deputy Office Secretary Mrinal Kanti Das, among others, were present on the occasion.
Editors and media personalities including Golam Sarwar, Zakaria Chowdhury, Manzurul Ahsan Bulbul, Abed Khan, Morshed Alam, Altaf Mahmud, Emdadul Haq Milan, Noyim Nizam, Mozammel Babu, Naimul Islam, Motiur Rahman Chowdhury, AMM Bahuddin, Abul Kalam Azad, Harun Or Rashed, Azizul Islam Bhuyain, Saidul Alam, Ahmed Jobaer, Munni Shaha, Provash Amin, Zakaria Kajol, Sukanta Gupta Alok, Obaidur Rahman, Mustafa Firoj and Syed Ashikur Rahman took part in the interaction.
Seeking cooperation and suggestions from the media personalities, Ashraful Islam said the National Mourning Day marking the 40th anniversary of the martyrdom of Bangabndhu would be observed in a befitting manner with the participation of all sections of the people.   
"By exercising your innovative quality and creativeness, you can do a lot to evaluate the life and activities of the Father of the Nation and disseminate those among the future generations," he said adding that it would enrich the nation's glory and halt distortion of history by the vested quarters.
A volley of suggestions came from the media personalities to make the observance of the 40th anniversary of the martyrdom of Bangabandhu including a proposal to form a broad-based national committee with socially acceptable personalities to organize a detailed discussion on the colourful life and activities of the Father of the Nation. Suggestions also came to include the entire life and carrier of the Father of the Nation in the text books at different levels of education including higher studies so that the future generations could know the rich history of their nation.
Responding to the suggestions of the media personalities Syed Ashraf said that the journalists are free and unencumbered to discharge their professional responsibilities without any restrictions and regimentations from the government. 'We consider no media or media man as inimical to our government or party" he said adding that Awami League had always enjoyed highest cooperation from the media in times of national need in the past, which, he said, would continue in future also.  
Meanwhile, responding to a query on blanket joining of Jamaat-Shibir activists in the Awami League and its various front organizations, Mohammd Hanif said  strict instructions have been sent to grassroots level of the party to make sure that none from Jamaat-Shibir could infiltrate into the party and bring defame to the organization.    
About his shyness to media, Syed Ashraf said, "Frequent appearances in media including on TV screens, rather become counterproductive for a leader or a statesman." In a lighter vein he said, "People become bored by frequently seeing their leaders or ministers on TV screens or in pages of newspapers. This is why I prefer not to be in the media now and then, he added.