The 42nd homecoming day of Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is being observed today (May 17), recalling her returning home on May 17 in 1981 after a long exile.

To mark the day, various organisations, including the Awami League, are arranging different programmes.
 
Special doa and prayers are being offered at mosques, temples, churches and pagodas marking the day.

On May 17 in 1981, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina returned home after six years of exile defying different obstacles of the then government.

Boarding on an aircraft of the Indian Airlines, she reached the then Kurmitola Airport in Dhaka from the Indian capital of New Delhi via Kolkata at 4:30pm on that day four decades back.

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was brutally killed along with most of his family members on August 15 in 1975 and his two daughters – Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana – luckily escaped the brutal assassination as they stayed abroad.

In a national council session of the Awami League on February 14-16 in 1981, Sheikh Hasina was elected as party president in her absence and then she returned to the country on May 17.

“I have returned to the country not to become a leader of the Awami League, rather to participate in the struggle for freedom by staying beside the people,” said the Awami League president in a heart touching reception accorded by nearly 1.5 million people at the airport at that time.

She added: “I want to stay beside you as your sister, as your daughter, and as a worker of Awami League, who believes in the ideals of Bangabandhu.”

BDST: 1149 HRS, MAY 17, 2022
MN/SMS