UN General Assembly
1999

late 1970s to the early 1980s. I began to struggle from exile against the autocratic rule. After coming home in 1991, I stepped up that struggle for the restoration of people’s right to vote and their right to freedom and to food. I was harassed and arrested by the authoritarian regimes, and several attempts were made on my life. But nothing could deter me either from my path or from my goal, the restoration of democracy. The movement grew in strength, and finally victory was on the side of the people. Today democracy has taken firm root in Bangladesh for all time to come. We have strengthened the parliamentary system. Prime Minister’s question time has been introduced. The session is televised and broadcast live. To institutionalize democracy and make it sustainable, we have ensured the people’s right to vote by introducing the institution of a non-party, caretaker Government to be formed three months before each election. My struggle now is to guarantee the people’s right to food; in other words, economic emancipation to a sustainable livelihood. I am driven by