Zia’s Grave Issue: Govt created it to cover up its failures

The government has created an unpleasant issue out of the grave of late president Ziaur Rahman to cover up its failure to contain the Covid-19 and dengue situations, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said yesterday. 

He made the remarks while talking to reporters at his Kalibari residence in Thakurgaon town.

"During the Covid-19 pandemic over the last two years, unemployment has gone up to an intolerable level. Instead of trying to get out of all this, the government has instead been trying to raise an issue out of Zia's grave. That is why people do not have any confidence in this government." 

On the remarks  Zafrullah Chowdhury made at a meeting at the Jatiya Press Club on September 2, Fakhrul requested Chowdhury not to make misleading comments.

Zafrullah had said that making Tarique the BNP acting chairman was a violation of the party's constitution.

Fakhrul said Zafrullah is a highly respected and intelligent man and is fighting against fascism. "But as he is getting older, he sometimes says things that undermine the anti-autocrat movement. His remarks about the process of appointing Tarique Rahman as the acting chairman of the BNP are not reasonable."

The BNP secretary general said Tarique is the acting chairman of the BNP as per the constitution and served as the party's senior joint secretary general and senior vice-chairman earlier. "He has gradually come to this position from within the party. He is also successfully organising the nationalist party from abroad." 

Fakhrul mentioned that when president Ziaur Rahman was killed, many people said the BNP would be destroyed but that didn't happen. The BNP came back strongly under the leadership of Khaleda Zia, adding that for the last 12 years, not only the BNP, but the country has been going through a major political crisis.

"The biggest crises [for the BNP] occurred when the party's chairperson was imprisoned in a false case and acting Chairman Tarique was exiled. Even after that, he [Tarique] has kept in touch with leaders and activists at the grassroots level. No question can arise about the leadership here.  The party is led by him and he is performing his duties with extraordinary organisational skills... Under Tarique's leadership, we are very hopeful that the party will soon be well organised and create a movement that will be able to remove the present 'autocratic AL government' and establish a people's government." 

District BNP President Taimur Rahman, General Secretary Mirza Faisal Amin, Finance Secretary Shariful Islam, district Chhatra Dal President Kayes were present.