Today, 1 September, marks the 47th founding anniversary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The BNP has taken up various programmes including discussions and processions to mark the occasion.
The late President Ziaur Rahman founded the BNP on this day in 1978. He was the party’s founding chairman.
On 30 May, 1981, Ziaur Rahman was killed in Chattogram during a failed military coup.
Following a series of events, on 21 February, 1983, his wife, Khaleda Zia, took over the party’s leadership. She remains the chairperson of the party.
During the ousted Awami League government’s tenure, Khaleda Zia was arrested on 8 February, 2018, and sentenced in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case. She spent more than two years in prison.
At 79 years old, Khaleda Zia is no longer active in politics due to legal battles, imprisonment, and later illness. Since February 2018, her son Tarique Rahman has been serving as the party’s acting chairman.
He has been living in the UK since the military-backed caretaker government took power in 2007 and has been directing the party from there. BNP has been out of power for more than 17 years.
On the occasion of the party’s 47th founding anniversary, acting chairman Tarique Rahman issued a message to the media yesterday, Sunday, extending greetings to leaders, workers, and well-wishers.
In his message, he said that true democracy has not yet been established in the country. Only by ensuring the rule of law, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and the independence of the judiciary can people’s democratic rights be realised. For this, a people-elected and accountable government is essential.
In a separate message yesterday, BNP’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that only by holding free and fair elections and strengthening the rule of law can citizens’ freedoms be ensured.
He added that the authoritarian structure built over the years must be uprooted to establish a tolerant, peaceful, and socially just society—something that must be the core objective of nationalist forces.
Programmes for the anniversary
Party flag was hoisted at the BNP’s central office and all its district offices across the country in the morning. The party leaders and activists will offer fateha and pay tribute at the grave of party founder Ziaur Rahman in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. Discussions and rallies will also be held across districts and metropolitan areas today.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, a rally will be brought out from in front of the BNP’s central office. On Wednesday, 3 September, discussions and rallies will take place at the upazila and municipal levels.
In addition, commemorative supplements will be published in newspapers, posters will be distributed, and BNP will organise roundtable discussions on contemporary and relevant issues.