Globally-reputed magazine ‘Time’ has run the cover story of its latest issue, published on November 2, on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
“At 76 years old and silver-haired, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister is a political phenomenon who has guided the rise of this nation of 170 million from rustic jute producer into the Asia-Pacific’s fastest-expanding economy over the past decade,” reads the cover story which is a constructive criticism of the tenure of Sheikh Hasina.
PM survives 19 assassination attempts so far
Observing that few rebuttals are as stark as the 19 assassination attempts that Hasina has weathered over the years, the article on the PM also highlighted the atrocities carried out by the leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the name of pressing their anti-constitutional demand of caretaker government.
“In recent months, supporters of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have clashed with security forces, leading to hundreds of arrests, police vehicles and public buses set ablaze, and several people killed,” the article says.
Here, it can be added that according to media reports, in the five days before the publishing of the article on November 2, political violence orchestrated by BNP leaders and activists across the country claimed the innocent lives of at least 12 persons including two policemen.
World’s longest-serving female head of government
“In office since 2009, after an earlier term from 1996 to 2001, she is the world’s longest-serving female head of government and credited with subduing both resurgent Islamists and a once meddlesome military,” writes Time, adding that she has already won more elections than Margaret Thatcher or Indira Gandhi.
Informing that Hasina is determined to extend that run at the ballot box in the upcoming national election in January, the article quoted the PM as saying, “I am confident that my people are with me. They’re my main strength.”
$100b demanded annually to tackle climate crisis
The Time’s article also mentions Hasina’s leading role on the global platform in pressing climate justice.
“Bangladesh also sits at the front line of the climate crisis. Water has dictated life here for millennia. From inland, snowmelt from the towering Himalayas funnels a mind-boggling 165 trillion gallons through Bangladesh’s rivers each year. From the skies, regular cyclones batter a low-lying delta that is 80% floodplain, causing some $1 billion of damage annually,” reads the article.
It also adds that rising sea levels threaten the lives and livelihoods of a population over four times the size of California, crammed into a territory smaller than Illinois.
“Hasina has championed demands for developed countries to provide their developing peers $100 billion annually until 2025 for climate resilience, a pledge so far unfulfilled,” mentions the article.
“We don’t want to only receive promises. Developed countries should come forward,” a determined PM told the Time.
