Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Saturday urged students to be ‘self-confident’ in achieving their goals as he awarded scholarships to 2,000 students of different institutes after the name of his parents.
Protiva Bikash, a voluntary association, organised the event of ‘Abu Ahmad Abdul Hafiz – Syeda Sahar Banu Chowdhury scholarship’ award giving ceremony at Shalpakala Academy in Dhaka. Momen’s elder brother AMA Abdul Muhith, former finance minister, was also present.
They also honoured 13 civil servants from Sylhet region as the ‘pride of Sylhet’. They were social welfare secretary Mohammad Jainal Bari, Managing Director of Agrani Bank Ltd Mohammad Shams-Ul-Islam, additional secretaries Md Arifur rahman Apu, Md Mohibur Rahman, Md Ehsan Elahi, Anwar Hossain Chwdhury, Md Habibur Rahman, Kabirul Ezdani Khan, Md Mizanul Haq Chowdhury, Md Jahurul Islam Rohel, Md Khairul Amin, Md Shafi Ul Haq, and Md Farukuzzaman.
The foreign minister remembered his early life and told the students that ‘you are so lucky that now the country is giving you a lot.’
“We did not have that opportunity,” he said, as he grew up during the Pakistan period when Bangladeshis were deprived of basic rights.
“Now you have lot of opportunities. You have to use it,” he told the students, adding that “If you have conviction, self-confidence you can be a winner.”
He encouraged them by saying that there is “nothing impossible”.
“You should have one conviction – ‘I can do it’,” he said, asking them to make the best use of the time.
He said he suggested Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina to introduce students’ loan so that the poor meritorious can continue study and later repay after getting jobs.
