BSS: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government is working relentlessly for further strengthening democracy and speeding up development in the country as Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland QC paid a courtesy call on her. “We’re working tirelessly for further consolidating democracy and accelerating development in the country,” Premier’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted her as saying while briefing reporters after the meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office here. In this connection, the Commonwealth Secretary General said her organisation is ready to extend cooperation to Bangladesh in upholding its democratic process. Sheikh Hasina said over 6,000 elections, including local government body polls and Jatiya Sangsad by-elections, were held in the last nine and half years. “Those elections were staged in a free, fair and neutral manner,” she said. While talking about the terrorism issue, the premier said her government has successfully combated the social menace. “We’ve built a social movement against terrorism by involving the people of all strata …we don’t allow our children to be indulged in terrorism,” she said. On the Rohingya issue, Sheikh Hasina said: “We’re having discussion with Myanmar to resolve the Rohingya crisis.” Describing weather as the biggest concern for the government regarding to the safety of Rohingyas, Sheikh Hasina said local people are suffering a lot as their arable land was occupied by the forcibly displaced Rohingyas. The Prime Minister said women empowerment is being made from the grassroots level and the womenfolk in large number is participating in the country’s socioeconomic uplift. “We’re encouraging the young entrepreneurs — both males and females — in SME,” she said.