Staff Reporter :Former Indian President and globally famous nuclear scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has said that sustainable economic development of a country can put an end to terrorism. “People get involve in terrorism out of frustration when they fail to meet their economic needs,” he said on Saturday.Dr Kalam was delivering a keynote speech at a function marking the 110 years of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry [MCCI] at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, Dhaka in the morning.Terming Bangladesh and India as natural friends, he said, “There are many things the two countries are sharing. One of them is the world’s largest mangrove forest Sundarbans.” “Besides, there are many indigenous peoples including Manipuri and Tripura common in both the countries,” he said.In the speech he said, “The two countries depend on each other on different aspects. Bangladesh imports about 15 per cent goods from India each year. The total trade volume of the two countries is worth $ 6.0 billion.” “However, the true development lies in the development of rural areas,” he said.The former Indian President focused on three things as his ‘dreams’. These are-physical connectivity, electrical connectivity and knowledge connectivity.Elaborating his development concept, he said, “The physical connectivity means development of infrastructure like roads, rail routes etc. The electric connectivity includes telemedicine and telecommunications. And the knowledge connectivity means improvement of educational standard.”He gave highest importance on ‘leadership quality’ for materializing the dreams and said a leader must have the organizing capacity and the capacity to disseminate his objectives. “Besides, a leader must create new posts and must know how to manage success and failure. Above all, a leader must show honesty in all his management work,” he added.Finance Minister AMA Muhith attended the function as chief guest, while MCCI President Rokeya Afzal Rahman was in the chair.Besides, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and Prime Minister’s foreign affairs adviser Gowher Rizvi, among others, addressed the function.Later, a gala evening was held marking 110 years of MCCI.Earlier on Friday, the former Indian President attended another function titled ‘Youth Dialogue’ arranged by MCCI at a city hotel where hundreds of students of public and private universities also took part.Abdul Kalam had inspired Bangladeshi youths to nurture great dreams, acquire knowledge continuously and defeat problems through working hard to build a better Bangladesh. “Your dreams are the dreams of Bangladesh. Your thoughts are the thoughts of Bangladesh and your actions will be the actions of Bangladesh,” he said, adding, “Having small aims or dreaming small is a crime… You must think big and convert your dreams into actions through hard work.”Several enthusiastic students joined in a chorus when Abdul Kalam started reciting a poem of Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi – ‘I will fly and fly’. “I’m born with potential, I’m born with goodness and trust, I’m born with ideas and dreams, I’m born with greatness, I’m born with confidence, I’m born with wings, so, I’m not meant for crawling, Because I have wings, I will fly, I will fly and fly,” the chorus murmured the hall room.Dr Kalam described his journey of 83-year life as a ‘fantastic experience with lot of unexpected happenings and happiness apart from difficult times.’He reminded the students, ” You must have a great dream and great aim in life. So, acquiring knowledge continuously and working hard even in difficult times are the key aspects of life.”Appreciating the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Abdul Kalam said he [Mujib] would always be remembered as he created Bangladesh. He said he wants to see an action-oriented clean Bangladesh with the contribution of country’s young population.He also laid emphasis on ‘energy independence’ saying it means solar energy, wind energy and hydro energy.About nuclear threat the scientist said, “I personally believe nuclear is not a good thing. Anywhere you use nuclear system, you’re not damaging whole area, rather you’re damaging whole set of human development.” “I personally believe, the total world has so far got 10,000 nuclear warheads. Of them, 5000 in USA and 5000 in Russia and the reaming 1000 in other nations,” he said. “Now the time has come that the nations who got 10,000 nuclear warheads must go for total disbarment. Recently both the Russian President and the American President signed an agreement and they will revoke 30 percent of warheads by 2025. This is a good sign,” he mentioned.Dr Kalam said other nations like India and Pakistan should also work for a nuclear free world. “I want to see billions of smiles in the faces of billions of people,” he said with huge optimism.
