Six-point Demand solely Bangabandhu’s brainchild: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the historic Six-point Demand was solely the outcome of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's thoughts.

"Many people want to say many things about the formulation of the Six-point Demand. But, I know personally that it (Six-point Demand) was solely the outcome of Bangabandhu's thoughts," she told the prize-distribution ceremony of an online quiz competition marking the historic Six-point Demand Day.

Bangabandhu's birth centenary celebration national implementation committee organised the ceremony at the International Mother Language Institute (IMLI) while the premier joined it from her official residence Gono Bhaban through a videoconference.

Speaking at the function as chief guest, the premier recalled that Mohammad Hanif (former mayor of Dhaka City Corporation) knew this as he typed the Six-point Demand when he was a personal assistant of Bangabandhu in Alfa Insurance Company where the Father of the Nation joined in 1960 to mainly maintain communication with his party leaders and activists.

"Bangabandhu always used to write down what he thought (about the Six-point Demand) and used to give it to Hanif to type those. And only Hanif knew that the Six-point Demand was solely coming out from the thought of Bangabandhu as he had typed it. No one else knew that," she said.

Highlighting the background of formulation of the Six-point Demand, the premier said that during the Indo-Pak war in 1965, the people of then East Pakistan remained unprotected as there was no importance to the central government of Pakistan for protecting this region.

"We remained unprotected (during the Indo-Pakistan war). So, Bangabandhu took the decision to formulate the Six-point Demand," she said.

The premier said the Six-point Demand that had proposed to give autonomy to every province of Pakistan was adopted at the working committee of the Awami League and subsequently passed by the party's national congress.

She mentioned that Bangabandhu later took initiatives to publicise the Six-point Demand across the country and started holding meetings one after another.

"Bangabandhu was arrested time and again and implicated in cases in every district where he went to arrange meetings in favour of the demand," the premier said.

Sheikh Hasina, elder daughter of Bangabandhu, said when Bangabandhu returned to Dhaka after staging the last meeting at Adamjinagar, Narayanganj on Six-point Demand, police arrested him from their Dhanmondi residence.

"Not only Bangabandhu, numerous party leaders were picked up by the police, and protesting it, the people launched a massive movement across the country," she added.

State Minister for the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Bangabandhu's birth centenary celebration national implementation committee Chief Coordinator Dr Kamal Abul Naser Chowdhury gave welcome address at the function.

Chairman of Bangabandhu's birth centenary celebration national implementation committee National Professor Dr Rafiqul Islam, who gave vote of thanks, handed over cheques and certificates signed by the premier among first three winners of the competition on behalf of the PM.

The participants of the competition including 100 winners got connected from 35 offices of deputy commissioners (DCs) across the country.

A total of 1,09,929 participants from across the country took part in the competition.

Of the participants, the first prize winner of the quiz competition, Imtiaz Pasha, a student of Public Administration Department of Dhaka University, and the fifth prize winner, Khuku Rani, a teacher of Khulna Railway Girls School, shared their experiences with the audiences on behalf of the participants.