Sheikh Hasina chosen for Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will get the prestigious Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development this year for her ‘outstanding contribution to the promotion of democracy and pluralism’, it was announced here on Friday.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh and a citation and is administered by Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It will be presented to the Bangladesh leader during her visit to India next month.

By a strange coincidence, the announcement of the prestigious award came on the very day the Bangladesh apex court sentenced the killers of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman

The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust in its announcement said that the 62-year –old Awami League chief, who returned as Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the second term last December, has made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of democracy and pluralism. It also hailed her determined drive to alleviate poverty and secure social and economic justice for her people through inclusive and sustainable development and her consistent commitment to peace.

The Trust noted with appreciation Hasina’s ‘Vision 2021’ programme which seeks to transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021, by eliminating poverty and inequity.

During her first term as Prime Minister from 996 to 2001, Sheikh Hasina brought peace to the Chittagong Hill area through a peace accord and thus ended insurgency plaguing the area.

-Asian Tribune-