Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday paid homage to Sheikh Russel, the slain youngest son of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to mark his 60th birthday.

Russel, the youngest brother of Sheikh Hasina, was brutally killed along with Bangabandhu and most of his family members in a carnage on August 15, 1975. He was then only 10 years old and a fourth-grader student at University Laboratory School.

October 18 is observed as Sheikh Russel Day in accordance with a Cabinet Division decision taken in 2021.

On Wednesday morning, the prime minister along with her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, went to Banani graveyard and placed a wreath on the grave of Russel. They also spread flower petals on the graves of all martyrs of Bangabandhu’s family.

Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana recited offered Surah Al-Fatihah and joined a special prayer seeking eternal peace of the departed souls of Bangabandhu,, Bangamata and other martyrs of the August 15 carnage.

The two daughters of Bangabandhu escaped the mayhem as they were abroad at the time.

Russel was born on October 18, 1964 at the historic Bangabandhu Bhaban on Dhanmondi Road 32 in the capital. He was named after Bangabandhu's favourite writer, renowned philosopher and Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell, by Bangabandhu himself and Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib.

To mark the day, government bodies, the ruling Awami League, its associate bodies and different sociocultural organizations are holding various programs both at home and abroad.