DHAKA: BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) is celebrating its 39th founding anniversary on Friday (September 01).

The party flag was hoisted atop the party’s central office at Nayapaltan in the city and other offices of the party across the country at 6:00 am.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir along with the party leaders and activists placed wreaths and offered fateha at the grave of the party’s founder Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city in the morning.

BNP and its associate bodies arranged several programs marking the founding anniversary.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is now staying in London. The party is celebrating the anniversary in a limited scale due to Eid-ul-Azha and absence of Khaleda Zia.

A discussion will be held at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) on September 09 where Mirza Fakhrul and the party’s senior leaders will be present.

Khaleda Zia in a statement congratulated the countrymen, party leaders and activists as well as well-wishers on the occasion.

In her statement, she said, “The government is jeopardizing the national interest through various anti-state agreements and activities.”

She claimed that BNP is staging demonstrations to revive democracy, to safeguard the country’s independence and sovereignty, to protect people’s rights and to mitigate their pain and sufferings.
On September 1 in 1978, late President Ziaur Rahman founded the party with a 19-point programme to build a self-reliant Bangladesh.

In the 39 years’ journey of the party, BNP had been in power for four times and in opposition bench twice. But following boycott of the January-5 elections of 2014, the party is also out of parliament now.

The party has been out of power for 11 years since the 1/11 political changeover.

BDST: 1030 HRS, SEP 01, 2017
EHJ