On Friday (August 14), the party’s senior joint general secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi issued a press release announcing the programme. It was stated that doa and milad mahfil will be held at party offices and mosques in different parts of the country on the initiative of BNP and its associated and affiliate organisations.
As a central programme in the capital, a doa and milad mahfil will be held at 11am at BNP’s central office in Nayapaltan. BNP has called upon party leaders and activists to observe the programme with due dignity.
From politics to running the state
Khaleda Zia studied at Dinajpur Government Girls’ High School. In 1960, she married Ziaur Rahman, then an officer in the Pakistan Army.
During the Liberation War in 1971, Ziaur Rahman read the declaration of independence from Kalurghat Radio Station in Chittagong. After independence, in 1978, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP was founded under his leadership.
After Ziaur Rahman was killed in 1981 during a failed military coup in Chittagong, Khaleda Zia took over the leadership of BNP. Gradually, her influence in the country’s politics increased.
In 1983, under her leadership, BNP formed an alliance with several political parties and began a movement against the then Ershad government. Due to her firm stance during the long political movement, she came to be known as the ‘uncompromising leader’.
After the fall of the Ershad government in 1990, when BNP won the national election in 1991, Khaleda Zia took charge as the country’s first female prime minister. She later served as head of government on two more occasions.
The final chapter of political life
In the last phase of her political life, Khaleda Zia had to go through various adversities for a long time due to cases, imprisonment and physical illness. She was also imprisoned during the military-backed caretaker government after the One-Eleven.
After being sentenced in a corruption case on February 8, 2018, new crises emerged in her political and personal life. Later, she suffered from various physical complications for a long time and received treatment at home and abroad.
Finally, while undergoing treatment, she died last December 30.
Khaleda Zia remained BNP Chairperson until her death. After her death, her eldest son Tarique Rahman has been leading the party. After the thirteenth national parliamentary election, he assumed the responsibility of head of government.
On Khaleda Zia’s birthday, leaders and activists of BNP and its associated and affiliate organisations are observing various programmes recalling her political life, movements and struggles, and her role in the country’s democratic politics.
