Today, Saturday, marks the 45th martyrdom anniversary of Ziaur Rahman, the country’s popular president and the declarer of independence. He was killed by some misguided army members at the Chattogram Circuit House on May 30, 1981.
Ziaur Rahman was a hero of the 1971 Liberation War. On March 25, 1971, the Pakistani forces launched a sudden attack on unarmed Bengalis under the name Operation Searchlight, leaving the whole nation in disarray. At that very moment, on March 26, the then-Major Zia, with the Bengali soldiers of the Eighth East Bengal Regiment in Chattogram, revolted against the Pakistani army with the words “we revolt.” He then declared independence from the Kalurghat radio station. That declaration, carried over the airwaves, inspired the disoriented nation. He was one of the sector commanders and the commander of the Z Force on the battlefield, and the government awarded him the Bir Uttam title for his bravery. After the change of power in 1975, Ziaur Rahman came to state power through the soldiers’-and-people’s revolution of November 7. On September 1, 1978, he founded one of the country’s largest political parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
To mark the anniversary, the BNP and its affiliated and associate bodies have taken up an eight-day programme. At a press conference at the party’s central office in Naya Paltan on Friday, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi outlined the activities. Under the programme, special posters are being published nationwide from May 25 to June 1, and party leaders and activists are wearing black badges, with special supplements to be published in various newspapers and online portals.
At 6 a.m. on Saturday, party flags will be flown at half-mast and black flags raised at the central office in Naya Paltan and at party offices of all levels across the country. At 11 a.m. the same day, led by Prime Minister and BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, the party’s national leaders and activists will lay wreaths and pay respects at the grave of martyred President Ziaur Rahman, after which a doa mahfil will be held on the grave premises on the initiative of the Jatiyatabadi Olama Dal, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said.
Ziaur Rahman was born on January 19, 1936, in Bagbari village of Bogura. His father’s name was Mansur Rahman and his mother’s Jahanara Khatun, alias Rani. Ziaur Rahman was the second of five brothers. In BBC Bangla’s poll of the greatest Bengali of all time, he was named among the 20 greatest Bengalis.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report