Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina intervened when a woman’s microphone was being taken away while she was offering a dua after conversing with the PM at the inauguration of the Ashrayan-2 project on Tuesday.
Later, the prime minister was heard saying, “What is this? The lady was praying (munajat).”
The event marked the handing over of 18,566 houses to homeless and landless families across the country, just five days before Eid-ul-Azha.
She opened the distribution of the houses along with ownership documents through a videoconference from her official residence, Ganabhaban, connecting to Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat, Eidgaon upazila of Cox’s Bazar, and Char Fashion upazila of Bhola.
The woman, named Shaherun, from Kaliganj upazila in Lalmonirhat, greeted the prime minister and began sharing her life story. She was one of the recipients of a home from the Ashrayan project. Shaherun cares for two grandchildren, as her daughter-in-law died and her mentally unstable son left home years ago.
Breaking into tears, Shaherun said she feels like dying to escape her harsh reality and asked the prime minister for advice on her situation. The prime minister was in tears and inquired if she was receiving any allowance.
Shaherun replied that the allowance was insufficient, especially given her high medical expenses. The prime minister then instructed the local UNO to ensure free medicine for her, assured that further steps would be taken to ease her hardships, and wished her a better life.
Before ending their conversation, Shaherun invited the prime minister to visit her area and began praying “Rabbana Atina Fid Dunya,” a dua from the Quran asking for good in this world.
During her prayer, a programme official attempted to take away her microphone, prompting the prime minister to intervene in favour of the woman. She seemingly expressed her annoyance as she commented, “What is this? The lady was praying (munajat).”
