BNP celebrates Khaleda Zia's birthday

BNP and its front and associated bodies yesterday celebrated the birthday of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia by cutting a 68-pound cake at her Gulshan office in the capital.
Senior leaders of the opposition party attended the programme to celebrate the 68th birth anniversary of the leader of the opposition in parliament.
However, Khaleda herself was not present at the programme as she is now in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah and Iti'kaf (special prayer).
Khaleda started observing her birthday on August 15, which is regarded as the National Mourning Day, a few years ago that created controversy in the political arena.
The day is mourned as Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with most of his family members and others were assasinated on this day in 1975.
According to Khaleda's marriage certificate, her birthday falls on September 5, 1945 while in her first passport its dated August 19, 1946.
However, according to Khaleda's biodata distributed to the media after taking oath as the prime minister of Bangladesh in 1991, she was born on September 19, 1945 in Feni.
The ruling Awami League always criticises the BNP chairperson for celebrating her birthday on August 15.
Amid this controversy and debate over her birthday, the BNP leaders including Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Rafiqul Islam Mian, Nazrul Islam Khan and Selima Rahman, cut the cake around 12:30am.