DHAKA, Oct 18, 2023 (BSS) - The 'Sheikh Russel Day' was observed through various programmes today across the country coinciding with the 60th birthday of Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Marking the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid glowing tributes to the martyred family members of Bangabandhu including Shaheed Sheikh Russel, who were brutally assassinated on August 15, 1975.

The Premier along with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana paid the homage to them by placing wreath at Banani graveyards in the morning to mark the 60th birthday of Sheikh Russel. They also offered fateha and joined a special munajat there, seeking eternal peace of the departed souls of Bangabandhu, Bangamata and other martyrs of the August 15 carnage.

Later, the two daughters of Bangabandhu spread flower petals on the graves of the martyrs.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division and Sheikh Russel Jatiyo Shishu Kishore Parishad jointly observed the day at national level with the theme 'Sheikh Russel Diptimoy, Nirvik Nirmal Durjoy (Luminous Sheikh Russel, courageous, pellucid and indomitable)'. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the main programme of the day at a function at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) here and distributed the Sheikh Russel Padak-2023 and the Smart Bangladesh Padak-2023 with State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak in the chair.

A total of 11 children were given the Sheikh Russel Award-2023 under 10 categories, including education, science and technology, sports, children with special needs, arts and culture, young programmer, young innovators, young writers, digital school and digital excellence. Each of the awardees was given a medal of one bhori gold.

Besides, the 'Smart Bangladesh Award' was given to 24 people, including 12 at national and 12 at district levels. 

The Prime Minister also distributed the prizes of the Sheikh Russel Online Quiz Competition among 10 winners while each of the winners got a core i7, 11 generation laptop as prize.

To mark the day, at the function, Sheikh Hasina inaugurated Sheikh Russel Animation Lab at Fine Arts Faculty in Dhaka University (DU), 300 Sheikh Russel Schools of Future, Python Programming Training for 27,000 students, distribution of certificates among 36,020 teachers trained at Sheikh Russel Digital Lab, seven Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centres, training programme for 25,125 women in 130 upazilas across the country under 'Her Power Project' and 'Sathik', 'Janamat', 'Rupantor' and Uboard' software, 'Smart 333', Smart Pregnancy Monitoring System, Smart e-Trade Licence, students' collective assessment app 'Noipunyo', integrated e-toll collection service 'Ekpass', toll free helpline service '13219' to prevent juvenile cybercrime and three university innovation hubs.

She also inaugurated Robotic Corners at 300 Sheikh Russel Schools of Future and laid foundation stones of 10,000 Sheikh Russel Digital Labs, three Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centres, 555 Joy SET Centres, DolCT-2041 SMART Tower and seven university innovation hubs.

Since the government declared October 18 as the 'Sheikh Russel Day' in 2021, the day was observed across the country and abroad this year for the third time.

At national level, different ministries, divisions and offices observed the day through different programmes, including paying homage to Sheikh Russel, organizing reminiscence events, seminars, discussions, special events for children, doa and munajat.

Besides, the day was observed at division, district and upazila levels across the country through various programmes, including drawing and essay competitions, screening presentations and Sheikh Russel Digital Lab selection competitions. 

According to the programme schedule, every ministry, division, office, agency and institution of the government paid tribute to Sheikh Russel by placing floral wreaths at his portrait on the premises of their respective offices at 7am.

Besides, the ICT Division and Sheikh Russel Jatiya Shishu Kishore Parishad jointly paid homage to Sheikh Russel by placing a floral wreath at his portrait on BICC premises here at 8am while they brought out a colorful rally from the venue at 8:30am.

Under the auspices of the ICT Division, a 3D movie titled 'Amader Choto Russel Sona' was screened at 3pm at Bangabandhu Military Museum in the capital. State Minister ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak enjoyed the movie with underprivileged children. 

The Foreign Ministry and Bangladesh missions abroad also observed the day through various programmes. Messages of the President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and the State Minister for Foreign Affairs were read out at every mission abroad and a documentary with English subtitle on Sheikh Russel was screened there.

Marking the day, the Sheikh Russel Jatiya Shishu Kishore Parishad organized drawing and chess competitions, football tournaments, cultural and shooting events.

Islamic Foundation organized special doa and munajat at the Baitul Mukarram Nation Mosque in the city, seeking eternal peace of the departed souls of Bangabandhu, Bangamata, Sheikh Russel and other martyrs of the August 15 carnage. 

In observance of the day, different TV channels aired special programmes and newspapers published special supplements, highlighting the significance of the day.

Sheikh Russel, also the youngest brother of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was born on October 18 in 1964 at the historic Bangabandhu Bhaban at Dhanmondi road number 32 in the capital.

Sheikh Russel was named after Bangabandhu's favorite writer, renowned philosopher and Noble laureate Bertrand Russell, by his father Bangabandhu himself and mother Sheikh Fazilatun Nesa Mujib, according to government website https://sheikhrussel.gov.bd/index-en.html.

Very active and playful from a very early age, Russel was light of the family. However, life didn't remain playful. He had to face the harsh cruelty of life from the age of one and half, when he had to visit Dhaka Central Jail and Dhaka Cantonment just to meet his beloved father. From cruelty, life soon became merciless. In 1971, he himself became an inmate of Dhaka Central Jail, just at the age of seven.

As the youngest of the family, his world revolved around his father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, mother Sheikh Fazilatun Nesa Mujib, sisters - Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, and brothers - Sheikh Kamal and Sheikh Jamal.
But, Russel was assassinated along with his family members in a domestic and foreign conspiracy on the night of 15 August, 1975 when he was a student of class four at University Laboratory School.