BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Saturday said former prime minister and BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia could not be forced to compromise or deviated from her political ideals despite being subjected to persecution, oppression, torture and imprisonment by “anti-people force.”

“An anti-people force subjected her to oppression, persecution and torture. She was kept imprisoned in a dilapidated jail, in the ruins of a prison. Even then, she could not be deviated from her duties, political thoughts, uncompromising stance and the goal for which she was fighting. She could not be forced to compromise,” Rizvi said.

He made the remarks while speaking at a milad and doa mahfil organised by the BNP at its central office in Nayapaltan in Dhaka in the morning to mark Khaleda Zia’s 81st birth anniversary.

Describing Khaleda Zia as a historic figure who represented ordinary people, Rizvi said she was a symbol of the country’s independence and sovereignty and an embodiment of democracy.

BNP’s President-nominee and LGRD Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was present as the chief guest.

BNP Standing Committee members Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, 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.