Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was inaugurated the Ulashi canal re-excavation programme on Monday, reviving a historic initiative launched nearly five decades ago by his father, martyred President Ziaur Rahman.
Ulashi village in Jashore's Sharsha Upazila witnessed a historic agricultural revolution on November 1, 1976, when Ziaur Rahman personally launched canal excavation there through voluntary labour. But after decades of neglect, the canal has become nearly dead.Following his father's path, TariqueRahman will symbolically take up a spade to begin restoring the canal.
Elderly residents recalled that when ZiaurRahman called for canal excavation to bring agricultural transformation to the poverty-stricken region, thousands joined the effort voluntarily, many surviving on bread and molasses while working. They said the prime minister's initiative is set to fulfill a long-standing aspiration of local people. A festive mood has gripped people from all walks of life in Jashore and Sharsha centering the prime minister's visit.
A memorial to ZiaurRahman's historic initiative still stands at the Union Land Office premises beside the Ulashi canal.
Recalling the event, elderly resident Abdul BarikMondal said, "President ZiaurRahman got down from a helicopter and walked to the site. He cut soil with his own hands and placed a basket of soil on the head of local member KarimBaksMondal. He even took the member's traditional headgear and wore it himself." He said inspired by the president's spontaneity, thousands of people joined the canal excavation without payment. Under the 1976 initiative, a four-and-a-half-kilometre canal from Ulashi to Jadunathpur was excavated in just six months.
The canal brought 22,000 acres of land in five major wetlands under cultivation, transforming the region's agricultural landscape.
Abu BakkarSiddiki, now 65, who attended the inauguration as a 14-year-old boy with his father, recalled that his father KarimBaksMondal, a union parishad member, was the first to carry away a basket of soil cut by ZiaurRahman.
He said news of the president digging the canal himself spread quickly, creating huge enthusiasm among ordinary people.
Another resident Ahmad Ali said the canal has become nearly dead due to years of neglect and re-excavation will greatly benefit people in the area.
Local farmers and residents believe TariqueRahman's initiative is not only about restoring a canal, but also about carrying forward Zia's development vision and ushering in a new agricultural revolution.
People living along both sides of the canal now hope the waterway excavated by the father will once again make their croplands fertile and prosperous through the hands of the son.
