Staff Reporter:
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday steps into 47-year with a legacy of sacrifice, pride, nationalism as it was always at the helm of the nation’s pursuit of democracy, human rights, and voting rights of the people.
The chronicle of Bangladesh is not merely a tale of motherland’s birth, it is a profound narrative of sacri-fice, defiance, and an unwavering march in defense of justice. At every critical juncture, when the Ben-gali nation stood on the crossroad of survival, when democracy was disgraced, or when the people were lost their liberty, BNP took lead to return freedom and sovereignty to the countrymen by forming re-sistance.
In 1975, following the establishment of a one-party BAKSAL regime resulting in political vacuum, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, the Proclaimer of Independence and Sector Commander in the War of Liberation, founded this new political party, BNP on 1 September 1978 under the banyan tree in Ramna, Dhaka, with the goal of establishing multiparty democracy.
Owing to various programs undertaken for changing people’s fate, BNP’s founder President Zia quickly rose in popularity. After his assassination by a group of misguided military personnel at Chattogram Cir-cuit House on May 30, 1981, his spouse Begum Khaleda Zia entered politics.
Rising from a housewife to a stateswoman, her firm leadership gave BNP a new direction. Her uncom-promising stance on the streets hastened the fall of autocrat Ershad.
During the authoritarian rule of the Awami League, Begum Khaleda Zia was imprisoned in 2018 under a so-called corruption case. Since then, Tarique Rahman has taken the helm of the party. Through reorgan-izing the party, accelerating the movement, involving the youth in politics, and introducing new strate-gies, he continues to move the party forward.
In a message marking the party’s founding anniversary, BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman said, “The BNP’s primary goal is now to alleviate people’s sufferings by realizing their rights, restoring the country’s independence and sovereignty, and re-establishing the tradition of multiparty democracy.”
He said, “With the aim of uniting the people under the nationalist ideology, the Proclaimer of Independ-ence President Ziaur Rahman founded BNP on 1 September 1978.”
BNP has announced various programs celebrating its founding anniversary.
