Bangabandhu’s leadership capacity developed from community activities: Saima

Publish: 8:14 PM, September 7, 2020 | Update: 8:14 PM, September 7, 2020

DHAKA, – Underscoring the need for changing the mindset that age alone indicates one’s depth of knowledge, autism expert Saima Wazed Hossain said the leadership capacity of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu was developed through serving the community from his youth age.

“Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s leadership capacity was developed from his youth age through community activities. He had some moral values,” she said.

Saima, also Vice-Chairperson of the Centre for Research and Information (CRI), made the remarks at the closing session of a three-day ‘Let’s Talk’ of 7-Chapter, arranged by Young Bangla, the youth wing of CRI, on Sunday night.

Narrating how Bangabandhu in his prime time jumped onto the political landscape to protect the interest of his community and finally founded a nation, Saima, a granddaughter of the Father of the Nation, called upon all to create a space for youths to take the country forward.

“Let’s change this mindset that ‘being minor in age means being minor in knowledge’, which has no ground at all. Rather the history of our country is studded with examples of youths holding ample knowledge and bearing the torch for others,” the CRI vice-chairperson said.

She said, “If we think about our Liberation War and if we think about the founder of our country Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, we find that he set off as a youth volunteer dedicating himself to the needs of his community.”

Saima, also a thematic ambassador of Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), said, “The life of Bangabandhu did not begin with politics. He didn’t debut with any big organisation…he had given priority on works in his life…he found a gap in his community. He observed his fellows and pondered on how he might help them.”

And he was emerged from that position, while his leadership capacity was created from his youth age and community activism, she said, adding “He (Bangabandhu) had some moral values. He had his drives and followed that compass.”

There were a lot of challenges and obstacles Bangabandhu faced in his life, Saima said, adding “He created his own space and it is from there that his leadership quality was developed. He learned from there.”

“We need to learn those at an early age and if we whole-heartedly desire the progress of our country, we must have to create scopes for our youths,” she said.

The Bangabandhu’s granddaughter talked about the recommendations and suggestions that came from the discussions of Let’s Talk in the last couple of days.

She said: “Education sector is a big issue. Why are we imparting education to youths and sending them to schools? Are they ready for that? What are they learning from there? Are they simply studying or learning values? How can they contribute to the country? How will community involvement be? Are they learning about how they can ensure betterment of their surroundings? It is cleared that they want those. So, we should do this works.”

This time, Young Bangla’s Let’s Talk was featured with seven episodes to bridge the gaps between what youths are thinking of the country in the post-COVID-19 period and what the policymakers are thinking of youths.

Young Bangla has been arranging ‘Let’s Talk’ since 2014 aiming to connect the country’s policymakers with youths.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina graced the programme with her presence before the 2018 parliamentary election.

Earlier, Prime Minister’s ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy also interacted with the youths at several episodes of the Let’s Talk.

Apart from the opening and closing sessions, Let’s Talk titled ‘Let’s Talk on ‘COVID-19 Recovery: Youth Development’ was also featured with discussions on five themes. The recommendations from those sessions were also discussed at the closing ceremony.

Planning Minister MA Mannan, Convener of Young Bangla Nahim Razzaq, MP, and Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office Ahmad Kaikaus addressed the closing ceremony conducted by Nobonita Chowdhury.

Addressing the youths, Mannan said: “The eighth five-year plan is coming up. Youths can place their bold recommendations for that. We will incorporate those in our plan.”

He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took the country’s youths on the highway of development and now they have to march forward.