Prime Minister Tarique Rahman delivered this speech on Aug. 9, 2026, during a public gathering in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Below is his full speech transcript in English:
Dear local residents, elders, mothers and sisters, my party colleagues, and opposition members of Parliament:
Assalamu Alaikum. Assalamu Alaikum.
How are you? Are you well?
Alhamdulillah, I am also very pleased to meet you today.
I am particularly pleased because this area recently experienced flooding caused by excessive rain, during which the homes of many people were destroyed.
Despite this, by the grace of Allah, we have been able to hand over the keys to houses for 100 poor and needy families today.
In addition, as you saw here in front of you, we have provided financial assistance on behalf of the government to many other needy people.
We have also provided rice assistance to some needy women.
Government’s responsibility to the people
Dear brothers and sisters, I am telling you these things because you elected this government.
The people of Bangladesh elected this government.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of this government to stand beside the people of Bangladesh.
It is the responsibility of this government to remain with the people in both happiness and sorrow.
It is the government’s responsibility to look after the people of this country.
It is the government’s responsibility to stand beside the mothers and sisters of this country.
It is the government’s responsibility to arrange education for the children of this country.
It is the government’s responsibility to arrange proper medical treatment for people when they become ill.
And it is the government’s responsibility to create employment opportunities for the young people of this country, whether women or men.
Family Card program
Dear brothers and sisters, this is why, as you saw during the election, we said that if the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, by the grace of Allah, was able to form a government with the votes of the people of Bangladesh, we would undertake several core tasks.
One of those tasks was to support the mothers of this country so that the women of Bangladesh could become self-reliant.
For that purpose, we said we would provide Family Cards to households across the country, as Amir Khosru Saheb mentioned in his speech.
You have seen that within one month of forming the government, we began the pilot project for the Family Card.
Inshallah, by the grace of Allah, the pilot project has now been completed.
Beginning on the 16th of this month, we will launch the Family Card program.
Inshallah, during fiscal year 2026-27, we will provide Family Cards to the mothers of approximately 41 lakh, or 4.1 million, families across Bangladesh.
In your area, in this region and this Upazila, we will provide Family Cards to approximately 10,000 to 12,000 families during the coming fiscal year.
This program will continue over the next four years, bringing many more mothers and sisters under the Family Card system.
Why the Family Card matters
Why did we introduce Family Cards?
Our purpose was to ensure that, alongside the men of the family, women could also take responsibility for the household.
We want them to help build self-reliant families.
We want mothers to be able to look after their children’s education and healthcare.
The Family Card has been introduced to strengthen the hands of mothers.
And it is not only the Family Card.
Alongside Family Cards, we have also arranged Farmer Cards.
In some parts of Banshkhali, there are brothers engaged in salt farming, are there not?
It will not only be farmers who cultivate paddy, jute, vegetables or other crops who receive Farmer Cards.
Inshallah, our brothers engaged in salt farming will also receive Farmer Cards.
A point was also raised here about determining the price of salt.
Through discussions, Inshallah, we have determined a price for salt that will help salt farmers become self-reliant and economically secure.
Within the next few days, Inshallah, we will announce that price publicly.
As a result, our salt-farming brothers will no longer have to endure the hardships they faced in the past.
Matarbari, Mirsharai and industrial development
Dear brothers and sisters, today I went to Matarbari.
I visited and observed the Matarbari area.
Not only Matarbari, but today I also saw the entire region stretching from Mirsharai to Matarbari from a helicopter.
Why did I go to see it?
Because this vast sea in front of us is a resource of Bangladesh.
It is a resource of this country.
The people of Bangladesh are the owners of this vast sea.
That is why Salahuddin Saheb and I went to examine how we can use this sea and this entire coastal region to create employment for the people.
Starting from Mirsharai and extending to Matarbari, we want to establish various mills and factories and create opportunities for business and trade.
With that plan in mind, we visited the area.
We have allocated a very large area to China.
I have just returned from China, where I spoke with them.
They plan to establish several hundred mills and factories there.
Inshallah, people from across the Chattogram region will have opportunities to work in these factories.
This will help us address unemployment.
At the same time, Inshallah, we will earn significant amounts of foreign currency.
By earning that foreign currency, we will strengthen the economy of this country.
With that foreign currency, we will improve the education system for the children of Bangladesh.
And through those earnings, we will improve healthcare services for the people of this country.
Upazila hospital expansion
You probably know that the Upazila-level hospitals we currently have contain approximately 50 beds.
Of those beds, 30 were established during the tenure of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman.
Later, when Begum Khaleda Zia formed the government, she added the remaining 20 beds.
Today, your current Bangladesh Nationalist Party government, your government, a government that works with the people, has made a new decision.
To ensure that people in every Upazila receive good healthcare, we will upgrade these 50-bed hospitals to 101-bed hospitals within the next five years, Inshallah.
Across Bangladesh, in all 503 Upazilas, we intend to upgrade every Upazila hospital to 101 beds.
Peace and order as foundations for investment
Dear brothers and sisters, if we want to carry out these projects, create employment and establish factories by encouraging local and foreign investors, there is one prerequisite:
There must be peace and order in the country.
Chaos will not work.
In the past, when trouble or unrest occurred in your area or marketplace, what happened?
Did the shops remain open or did they close?
They closed.
Why?
Because small shopkeepers and other business owners closed their businesses to protect themselves from damage during the unrest.
In exactly the same way, local and foreign investors will want the products manufactured in their factories to move through the ports properly.
They will want their raw materials to arrive on time.
They will want peace and security on the roads.
If factories cannot operate properly, can employment be created?
No, it cannot.
That is why, brothers, we must remain conscious.
We must remain alert.
We must remain alert against those who want to destroy peace and order.
Education and the importance of stability
If we want to provide education for the children of this country, establish good schools and colleges, train teachers and provide new books to students, then we must maintain law and order.
Similarly, we must remain alert so that those who want to create confusion do not get the opportunity to do so.
If those who spread confusion succeed, ordinary people will suffer.
Those who create the confusion will eventually go their own way.
They will not remain beside the people.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, we must make a decision today.
The people of Bangladesh must decide:
Will we take our country forward?
Or will we remain involved in fighting and quarrelling?
Will we stand with those who create confusion?
We must make that decision.
Ten-year energy and electricity plan
We know that during the previous autocratic regime, the fuel and electricity sectors of this country were handed over to a small number of individuals.
Various plans were adopted for their personal interests rather than for the interests of the people.
Naturally, reorganizing an energy and electricity system that was planned in a disorganized way and benefited only a handful of people will require some time.
We have already begun that work.
Inshallah, we will present before the people of Bangladesh a proposal outlining our energy plan for the next 10 years and our electricity plan for the next 10 years.
We will present that proposal in the National Parliament.
We will then begin implementing that plan so that schools, colleges, hospitals, mills, factories and households can receive electricity properly.
We will also develop plans so that people can obtain the gas and fuel they need for transportation and other purposes.
Warning against political confusion
For the past few days, we have noticed that a handful of people are trying to create confusion surrounding these issues.
We want to say this clearly:
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party government will present its plan in Parliament.
If you have a plan, come forward and present it before the people.
But do not create chaos in the country by spreading confusing statements.
Do not destroy the peace of the people.
More than 50 years have passed since the independence of this country.
Now is the time to work for the people.
Now is the time to build the country.
Many countries became independent after Bangladesh.
But through work and hard labor, they have taken their countries far ahead.
Therefore, we can no longer remain behind.
We can no longer continue to lag behind.
Now there is one goal and one objective: to improve the standard of living of the people and change the destiny of the country.
Asking for public support
Dear brothers and sisters, I have presented several plans before you in this short speech.
If these plans are implemented, do you believe the destiny of the people and the destiny of the country will change?
What do you think?
Those of you at the back of this public meeting, do you believe we have adopted the right plans?
The plans we have adopted for industries, factories, electricity, fuel, Family Cards and Farmer Cards, are these plans in favor of the people?
If they are, brothers, then we need your support.
Because we always say that for us, for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the source of all power is the people.
If we have the support of the people, Inshallah, by the grace of Allah, we will be able to implement all programs that serve the interests of the people.
From aid to employment
Come, at today’s public meeting we have provided assistance to needy people.
But we want to transform this kind of aid and assistance into employment opportunities.
We want to create employment inside Bangladesh.
We also want to provide training to our young people so they can obtain employment abroad.
We want to transform the hands of every person in Bangladesh, the 40 crore, or 400 million, hands of 20 crore, or 200 million, people, into the hands of workers.
We want every individual to contribute to building the country.
We want every person to be able to change his or her own destiny and the destiny of his or her family through the hard work of their own hands.
That is the Bangladesh we want to build.
That is the Bangladesh for which we have waited.
But simply waiting and sitting idle will not achieve it.
We have to work.
We have to increase agricultural production.
We have to create employment.
And we have to bring about an industrial revolution by establishing mills and factories.
Country first
Dear brothers and sisters, let us make an oath and a promise at today’s public meeting.
The people of Bangladesh will no longer be confused.
Regardless of provocation from those who try to create confusion, the people of Bangladesh will move forward.
The people of Bangladesh will change their own destiny.
And at the same time, the people of Bangladesh will change the destiny of their country.
That is why we say:
We will work.
We will build the country.
The country comes first.
We will work.
We will build the country.
Country first for all. Bangladesh.
Closing remarks and Chattogram development
That will be all for today.
You may have noticed…
One minute, brothers. Do not chant slogans.
Brothers, do not chant slogans. Listen to me.
Let me speak.
Sit quietly.
Everything will happen for you.
You must have patience.
You must have patience.
Everything will happen.
From your Chattogram, we have given two important ministries of the government to two important people.
One is the Ministry of Finance, and the other is the Ministry of Home Affairs.
When two people from a division hold two such important ministries, no one can stop the development of that area, Inshallah.
That will be all for today.
When the work begins, Inshallah, I will come to you again.
We will meet again.
And regarding the embankment, it is part of our main plan.
Inshallah, work on the embankment will begin.
Allah Hafez.
Bangladesh Zindabad.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party Zindabad.
Assalamu Alaikum.
Full speech in Bangla: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rezjvv9LiG8