'Thank You, PM', says Bangladesh

Shunned as a burden at birth, Babu Mia was raised by his grandmother in Magura. Until recently, this differently-abled man was denied the basic facilities for living a dignified life.

However, things suddenly took a turn for the better some days ago when he managed to buy a mobile phone and conveyed his plight to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Within a few days, Babu received an "unexpected gift" -- a piece of land with a home on it.

Bewildered but grateful, Babu paid an emotional tribute to PM Hasina in a video, which was shared by ICT adviser and son Sajeeb Wazed Joy from his Facebook page.

This was one of the hundreds of videos that the 'Thank You, PM' campaign has received from across the country. To mark her 75th birthday on 28 September, the ruling Awami League and its frontal groups organised many such programmes.

The campaign invited everyone to send a thank-note video addressed to the prime minister for the many initiatives they would have benefitted from.

Senders thanked the PM for a gamut of initiatives undertaken by her, including vaccination drives across the country and mega infrastructure projects.

Moniruzzaman Manik from Nilphamari, standing in front of Uttara EPZ, said in his video message, "Honourable Prime Minister, you came to the power in 1996 and laid the foundation stone for Uttara EPZ in Nilphamari.

Unfortunately, the project was forestalled after BNP-Jamaat formed the government in 2001. Again, you came to the power in 2008 and revived the project, generating employment for 50,000 people."

In another video, Barsha Chakma, a Chittagong University student from Rangamati, thanked the prime minister for airlifting coronavirus vaccines to remote areas in her district.

Reflecting on the 'Thank You, PM' initiative, Albd web team coordinator Tonmoy Ahmed said, "There are rumours propagated on virtual platforms, often targeting the prime minister. The response to the 'Thank You, PM' campaign is a slap on their face."

Ahmed said the albd web team encouraged everyone to send original unedited videos.

"Within 18 days, we received more than 1,000 videos. After initial scrutiny, these videos will be shared from Awami League's verified Facebook page on the occasion of the prime minister's birthday."