BNP Standing Committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan on Saturday said former Prime Minister and former BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia never compromised on her principles despite facing great risks to her life throughout her political career.
Moyeen Khan made the remarks while speaking at a milad and doa mahfil organised by the BNP at its central office in Nayapaltan in Dhaka on Saturday morning to mark Khaleda Zia’s 82nd birth anniversary.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir attended the programme as the chief guest.
“We are here today to observe the 82nd birth anniversary of Begum Khaleda Zia. In the past, we celebrated her birthday every year, and she used to be present at those programmes. The difference today is that she is no longer with us,” he said.
“Such is the law of nature. But what is particularly noticeable today is that all of us gathered here know that Begum Khaleda Zia, throughout her uncompromising political life, risked her life but never compromised on matters of principle,” Moyeen Khan said.
“This is Begum Khaleda Zia. On her 82nd birth anniversary, we pay our deepest respect to her steadfast principles,” he added.
Recalling Khaleda Zia’s entry into frontline politics, he said she took to the streets in 1982 and accepted the challenge of restoring democracy.
“You know, in 1982, she came out onto the streets and took the challenge of democracy into her own hands,” he said.
He said Khaleda Zia was previously a housewife but eventually joined the street movement against the autocratic regime of HM Ershad.
“From being a housewife, she came onto the streets and led an eight-year-long movement against autocratic Ershad. She won the hearts of the people of Bangladesh and was elected the country’s first woman prime minister through the people’s votes,” he said.
Moyeen Khan also urged people to look further back to the country’s Liberation War in 1971 rather than focusing only on the political events of the 1980s.
“We have to go back a little into the past. It is not enough to talk only about the 1980s. We must remember 1971,” he said.
He recalled the period when Khaleda Zia, with her two young children, faced the realities of the Liberation War.
“We must not forget the day when, with her two young children, she took the oath of the Liberation War. We must also remember the day when Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman declared Bangladesh’s independence,” he said.
Referring to Khaleda Zia’s role during the Liberation War, Moyeen Khan said she sent her husband, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, to the path of the Liberation War while keeping their two children with her, describing it as an extraordinary example in the country’s struggle for independence.
He then recalled Khaleda Zia’s political struggle in the 1980s and said she remained committed to democracy throughout the later years of her life.
“From 2008 until the last day of her life, she never compromised with democracy. She went to jail and fought against injustice, irregularities, autocracy and fascism. But she never bowed her head before anyone,” he said.
The BNP organised the milad and doa mahfil at its Nayapaltan central office as part of its programmes marking Khaleda Zia’s birth anniversary. Party leaders and activists prayed for the forgiveness of her soul.
BNP Standing Committee members Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, BNP Vice-President Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Vice-Chairman and Liberation War Affairs Minister Advocate Ahmed Azam Khan, Joint Secretary General and Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, Joint Secretary General Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, among others, attended the programme.