Jan 5 polls helped win share in the Bay: PM:Daily Sun

  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said that the country would have not realised the right share in the Bay from India without the January 5 elections. “If we would have not won the January 5 elections, it was a doubt whether we could realise our rights from India,” she said while addressing a function of the Women and Children Affairs Ministry officials at the Secretariat here. The premie
r said that except the Awami League, other governments had not taken measures to establish the country’s rights in the sea. “The right in the Bay is a huge success for the country as the successive governments in the past did not take measures in this regard,” she said, adding that the resources of the sea area would be utilised. Bangladesh won its maritime dispute with India as the Hague-based International Arbitral Tribunal on Monday delivered its verdict, awarding Bangladesh 19,467 square kilometres area out of the disputed 25,602 square kilometres in the Bay of Bengal. The government sees that it is a great success with settling the dispute with India. Hinting at the major opposition, the premier said they did not do anything, but had been busy finding out faults by raising the issue of Talpotti island to undermine the incumbent government’s success with the maritime victory against India. Shortly after the verdict, BNP leader Hafizuddin Ahmed said in a reaction that India established its sole rights in the exclusive economic zone in the Bay through the verdict. Without mentioning any name, the premier said there was no existence of Talpotti Island. “That gentle man should be sent to the sea to find out the island. He should make a house there.” State Minister for the Women and Children Affairs Ministry Meher Afroz received the premier at the ministry. PM’s Principal Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar, secretary of the ministry Tariqul Islam and PM’s Press Secretary AKM Shamim Chowdhury and high officials of the ministry were present. The premier also spoke on the issue of women empowerment. “A unique situation has arisen in our parliament as the Leader of the House, the Speaker, the Opposition Leader and the Deputy Leader of the House are from the women folks. Such precedence is no where in the globe,” she said. The premier said as per the Global Gender Gap report published in 2013, Bangladesh had been placed in 7th position in the globe in the sector of political empowerment of women. Listing her government’s various steps for the development of the women folks, the premier said due to government’s move, presence of women in various sectors, including administration, military and judiciary, was on the rise. “Let the country’s women be well-educated so that they can contribute to every sector in the society,” she said. Terming females as daughters, wives and mothers in the society, the premier underscored the need for ensuring their dignity in all spheres of the society. “All will have to come out of such hypocrisy of talking for the freedom of women on one side and carrying out torture on them in the house on the other side,” she said. The premier also asked the ministry for taking appropriate measures to rehabilitate orphans. “It is not done and acceptable to our government that the orphans will roam around the streets and lead a miserable life. So, you have to take correct measures,” she said.