Mr. Speaker, with nearly 400 dead in the rubble of a factory and hundreds more still unaccounted for, we mourn along with the people of Bangladesh. Shobar Jonno Valobasha. Lives have been lost for “fresh style, fresh price”, as the slogan goes. That must change.
In the backdrop to this tragedy is a Bangladesh threatened by extremism. For months, political upheaval and violence have been tearing at the fabric of the nation, threatening to pull it apart. Nearly 42 years ago, hundreds of thousands died for the liberation of Bangladesh. The wounds have not yet healed, the pain not yet subsided. I hear it in the music and poetry of those who live in my riding.
However, there is a future open to Bangladesh, one without violence and persecution, one with the rule of law and human rights protected, a secular Bangladesh that can accommodate people of different faiths peacefully. It is my hope that the war for liberation will come to an end at last, but that the Spirit of '71 will continue to guide a new generation to the country that those who died for its liberation could only dream of.