BNP observes National Solidarity Day

The BNP and its associate organisations observed the "National Revolution and Solidarity Day" yesterday with elaborate programmes. A few political parties, including Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), observed the day as the "Civil-Military Uprising Day".
They claim that on November 7, 1975, soldiers and people together foiled a "conspiracy" against the country's independence and sovereignty. The then chief of army staff, Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman, was freed from captivity in Dhaka cantonment during the political turmoil.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia placed a wreath at the grave of the late president and founder of BNP.
In the afternoon, she addressed a rally in Chittagong to mark the day.
Leaders and activists of the BNP and its front organisations visited the grave of Zia and offered prayers and placed wreaths.
The BNP front organisations and affiliated socio-cultural bodies organised discussions, seminars, milad mahfil, Qurankhwani, video shows and cultural functions on the occasion.
On November 28 last year, the present caretaker government scrapped November 7 as a public holiday. It had been a public holiday since 1976 until the Awami League government cancelled it in 1996. After coming to power in 2001, the BNP-led four-party alliance government re-instated the day's previous status.
The JSD organised a discussion at the Taher Auditorium in the capital. The 1975 Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee held a rally at Bangabandhu Avenue yesterday to observe the day as "civil-military upsurge day".