Dhaka,
Bangladesh's key opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, has lashed out at the Sheikh Hasina government for showering all credit on her father Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and not giving dues to others for their contribution in the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan. Claiming that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was the country's first woman freedom fighter, Alamgir said it was her act of her courage at the outset of the liberation war that made things possible.
Addressing a press briefing Friday afternoon, Alamgir said Khaleda Zia has been a housewife, wife of Ziaur Rahman. After he revolted, the Pakistan commander tried to disarm Commander Sohrab of the 8 Bengal Regiment and the other troops. It was then that Khaleda Zia told them, "Do not surrender your arms until Ziaur Rahman returns."
"And that is how it all began," said Alamgir. The BNP secretary general said: "I have always tried to say if there is any first woman freedom fighter of the country, it is Khaleda Zia. "Today she has been convicted in a false case. She has struggled 40 years for democracy, yet this government has imprisoned her." Over the last few days, Alamgir, at various events and meetings, has been terming the BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman as a "child freedom fighter".
Explaining the reason, he said: "Our party leader Tarique Rahman and his younger brother were also prisoners at that time (1971), along with Khaleda Zia. So no one can deny the contribution of that little one to the Liberation War. Yet this leader today is not being allowed to return to the country." At the press briefing held at the party's Gulshan office, Alamgir said "the government has given priority to the birth centenary of a certain person rather than the county's Golden Jubilee of Independence".
He said the government highlights the War of Independence and the Liberation War at various events, but they hardly ever mention "the names of those who gave leadership to the Liberation War at the time, the name of MAG Osmani, the sector commanders, the name of Tajuddin Ahmad". "What about the war of independence? It is only all about one individual now," the BNP secretary general said. "During the 1971 independence struggle, our aim was to create a democratic state, yet that today is the most threatened. "There is no democracy in the country, human rights are being violated.
We are known around the world as a country that violates human rights," Alamgir said. BNP standing committee member Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, at the press briefing, declared that an event would be held to observe the Golden Jubilee of the country's Independence, on March 27 at the Kalurghat radio station. He said, "On 26 March 1971, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam announced a revolt against Pakistan and declared Independence from the Kalurghat radio station in Chattogram, calling up the freedom-loving people to join the independence struggle.
"Kalurghat radio station was a centre of the outset of the liberation war, a historic event. We have decided to pay our respects on March 27 at this historic place." Hossain said, the BNP secretary general, members of the party's standing committee and the central leaders will congregate at 2pm on Sunday at the Kalurghat radio station. Rallies would be brought out on Saturday in Dhaka and other parts of the country. "In the morning, BNP leaders and activists will pay their respects at the National Mausoleum in Savar and at Ziaur Rahman's grave in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar," Hossain said, adding,
"We see that the present government presents the history of the liberation war as it wishes in a twisted and manipulated manner to confuse the people. "That is why we are highlighting the actual history of the liberation war and its details in front of the people. We believe that a country that does not know its correct history, can never achieve sustainable development."