Ziaur Rahman's 89th birth anniversary today, BNP programs

Ziaur Rahman

Today is the 89th birth anniversary of BNP founder late President Ziaur Rahman (Bir Uttam). He was born on January 19, 1936, in Bagbari, Gabtoli, Bogra.

On Sunday (January 19), the party he founded, the BNP, has announced a set of programs to mark Ziaur Rahman's birth anniversary.

Among the programs are - in the first hour at 12 midnight, cold clothes have been distributed among the cold-stricken people at Kamalapur Railway Station under the initiative of Dhaka Metropolitan South Volunteers.

At 9:30 am, BNP leaders will pay tribute by offering prayers and flowers at the mazar of Shaheed Zia in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

In addition, as part of the central program at 4 pm, cold clothes will be distributed among the cold-stricken people at Bagbari, the birthplace of martyred President Ziaur Rahman. BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi will be present as the chief guest in this program.

On January 20, as part of the central program, cold clothes will be distributed among the cold-stricken people at Ekatuna Union No. 6 of Sadar Thana in Moulvibazar. In addition, BNP will hold discussion meetings, prayer mahfils, distribution of cold clothes among cold-stricken people and food distribution among the needy at all districts, metropolitan, upazila, thana, municipal and union levels across the country to mark the day.

In a message sent to the media on the occasion of the day, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, "On the 89th birth anniversary, I pay my deep respect to the proponent of Bangladeshi nationalism, the short-lived statesman Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam. I pray for the forgiveness of his soul. Shaheed Zia was the guide of the nation in overcoming all the critical periods of the country during his lifetime." After the Pakistani military attacked the people of Bangladesh on March 25, 1971, he started armed resistance.

He said, Ziaur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh from the Chittagong Kalurghat radio station on March 26. By declaring independence, he started the liberation war with boundless heroism. From that day on, the countrymen got to know his extraordinary leadership. When the country was in extreme despair due to the tyrannical misrule of the post-independence era, and our progress as a nation was hampered, Ziaur Rahman took over the leadership of the people at a critical juncture.

Mirza Fakhrul said, the ruling circles of the post-independence era deceived the people with the apolitical politics of false promises, trampled democracy to the ground, and pushed the country into an unlimited anarchy of famine. Bangladesh was given the international title of a bottomless basket, during such a great crisis of the nation, Shaheed Zia took over the reins of state power on November 7 in the historic revolution of the soldiers and people. Although he started his career as a soldier, the special feature of his life is that he has repeatedly appeared as a saviour in all the crises of the country.

The BNP leader further said that as soon as he came to power, he restored the independence of the judiciary and the press and established a multi-party democracy. He started the politics of production, to make the country self-reliant, carried out an agricultural revolution, a mass education revolution and a revolution in industrial production, and dug or re-dug 1,400 canals by combining voluntary labour and government assistance to modernize and expand the irrigation system. Ziaur Rahman, a symbol of extraordinary patriotism, unparalleled courage, honesty and simplicity, made an outstanding contribution to the nation.

Ziaur Rahman's nickname was Komol. He founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on September 1, 1978.