Monday, March 5, 2012

PM Shares Pleasantries With Intelligentsia‘Bless Me, Have all The Best’


DHAKA NEWS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Saturday sought blessings from noted personalities of society in fulfilling people’s expectations, as she shared pleasantries with select members of the intelligentsia on a serene spring evening.

“I seek your blessings so I can fulfil people’s expectations,” she said while addressing the gathering of eminent artists, actors, authors, musicians, editors, and senior citizens of society at her official residence Ganabhaban.

The event on Saturday afternoon was the first of its kind that Hasina, also president of the ruling Awami League, hosted after assuming office in early 2009.

Hasina said she had wanted to invite the eminent people much earlier but it couldn’t make it because of her busy schedules.

“It is difficult to manage time while in government to arrange such programmes but it is easier being in the opposition,” she said, adding that she would organise similar gatherings next year too.

After exchanging greetings with the guests, the premier sat at a table flanked by noted singers Ferdousi Rahman, Mustafa Zaman Abbasi and Mita Haque, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury and Foreign Affairs Minister Dipu Moni, among others, to enjoy a cultural programme.

Folk maestro Abbasi requested Hasina to lead a chorus of the song “Dhono dhanno pushpa bhora”.

Before the song started, the prime minister told Abbasi that she would love to be his student instead.

“Instead of singing, I want to be a disciple,” said Hasina.

Hearing the announcement that the PM would sing, the guests gathered around the table and sang the patriotic song in chorus.

The cultural show started with folk singer Kangalini Sufia’s “Paraner bandhab re buri hoilam tor karone”. Kiran Chandra Roy rounded off the show with his “Onekdin por ektaray sur tulechhi”.

The ceremony also featured poetry recitation.

Artists Murtaza Basheer and Hashem Khan, poets Mahadev Saha and Shihab Sarker, editors and journalists Prof. Dr Syed Anwar Husain, Mahbubul Alam, Golam Sarwar and Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, singers Kumar Biswajit, Samina Chowdhury and Shakila Zafar, film stars Faruque, Miju Ahmed and ATM Shamsuzzaman, among others, were present at the programme