Supporters and leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) thronged the mausoleum of the party’s founder and former president Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka on Monday, marking his 90th birth anniversary.
From early morning, thousands of party activists from Dhaka and surrounding districts arrived in processions carrying banners and festoons to pay tribute at the Zia Udyan area. The gathering continued throughout the day, with heavy crowds seen from Bijoy Sarani to the Bailey Bridge and inside the mausoleum complex.
At around 11:15am, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, accompanied by senior leaders including members of the party’s standing committee, placed wreaths at Ziaur Rahman’s grave. They later offered a munajat seeking eternal peace for the departed souls of Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who was laid to rest there on December 31 last year.
Speaking to reporters after the tribute, Fakhrul expressed confidence in the Election Commission’s ability to hold the upcoming national parliamentary election in a credible manner.
“The scrutiny of nomination papers always brings some issues — this is nothing new. So far, we have seen that the Election Commission is working more or less with competence,” he said, adding that the BNP had raised some concerns with the chief election commissioner on Sunday.
Asked whether all candidates were receiving equal opportunities, Fakhrul said: “We have no such complaint.”
He was joined by BNP Standing Committee members Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan and Salahuddin Ahmed, among others. Also present were BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council member Nazim Uddin Alam, Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Joint Secretaries General Khairul Kabir Khokon and Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, as well as central leaders and representatives of various front organisations.
Leaders and activists of BNP’s associate and affiliated bodies — including Jubo Dal, Swechchhasebak Dal, Sramik Dal, Mahila Dal, Chhatra Dal, Muktijoddha Dal, Tanti Dal and Matsyajibi Dal — later placed wreaths at the grave in separate processions.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Olama Dal organized a day-long Quran recitation program near the mausoleum. Doctors from the Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB) set up medical camps offering free treatment and medicines, while BNP-backed organisations such as JASAS and Zia Parishad also paid tribute.
Describing Ziaur Rahman as “an immortal name in the politics of Bangladesh,” Fakhrul said the late president introduced multi-party democracy, ensured freedom of the press and judiciary, and helped transform the country’s economy.
“We came to pay tribute to Ziaur Rahman, the proclaimer of Bangladesh’s independence and the architect of modern Bangladesh,” he said. “Beside him rests another extraordinary and indomitable leader, Begum Khaleda Zia, who dedicated her life to democracy, freedom and sovereignty of the country.”
Referring to the February 12 election schedule, Fakhrul said the BNP was renewing its commitment to rebuilding the country and institutionalising democracy following what he described as a student-public uprising that ended years of misrule.
Ziaur Rahman founded the BNP on September 1, 1978. Born on January 19, 1936, in Gabtali upazila of Bogura, he rose to power following the political upheavals of November 7, 1975, and later served as president. He was assassinated on May 30, 1981, in Chattogram by a group of rebel army officers.
To mark the anniversary, the BNP also organized discussions and prayer programs in Dhaka and across districts and metropolitan cities nationwide.
