For Salma!
Salma showed us the way by the example of her life and by her dedicated work for the rights of the most vulnerable of us, and by her teachings.
She left us to become a star in the worried skies of adversity which will lead us in the darkness of difficulties, like a star shows the way to a sailor.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The commemoration was a gathering of her relatives, her friends, her students, her disciples, her followers, her admirers . . . it was a time of grief, it was a time of peace, it was a time of faith in the future as taught by Salma.
I think that another dimension should be added to that ceremony, for Salma was not only working for Bangladeshi citizens, but she was working for the citizens of the world.
As such, she was also a citizen of the world, she was speaking, on top of Bangla, Urdu, English, a perfect French and was learning Italian.
She had been awarded several international prizes, she was recognised and was also a source of inspiration for many foreigners on different continents!
I would like to give her the acknowledgements, respect and love from members of the international community!
I remember once when we, with Rehman, were discussing peacefully on a reverie landscape. I asked her: "What gives you the strength, facing so many difficulties, having solved innumerable problems and shared so many social traumas and dramas, to carry on fighting . . ."
Her answer was a masterpiece of wisdom that I will not forget: "There are several scales of time; the one of your own life and the one of history. I am working for what I am finding the proper cause and I do not mind if I do not see the results in my lifetime. But I have to carry on according to my beliefs."
Salma is entering History today!
She did not see the fulfilment of all her actions but she could see them in her mind with the eyes of her faith in humanity.
The present is ensured by Rehman and the future by Zafar and Babar.
It is also ensured by her faithful friends, all her students, all her followers, her disciples . . .
The present and the future of the defense of the human rights are ensured! Salma is leading us and has preceded us in the achievement of her vision.
Today, Salma, thanks to you, Hope is piercing through our sorrow!