Prime Minister Tariq Rahman said that Bangladesh and the martyred President Ziaur Rahman once became complementary identities to many people of the Muslim world. When they say Bangladesh, they understand Ziaur Rahman, and when they say Ziaur Rahman, they know Bangladesh.
He said these things while addressing the chief guest at a discussion meeting organized on the occasion of the 45th martyrdom anniversary of the founder of BNP, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, at the Krishibid Institute of Khamarbari in the capital on Sunday (May 31). BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir presided over the event.
Recalling an incident in 1986, the prime minister said, “It was about five and a half to six years after my father's death. I went for Umrah with Amma for the first time.”
He said, “The incident was in Makkah, during Maghrib. After Maghrib prayer, before Isha prayer, we went back to the hotel to get some refreshment. We went to the Saudi government's dawa. There were no big hotels like now. The Haram Sharif was also much smaller than now and there were roads all around. The hotel we were staying in was called Makkah Hotel. Those who have visited long ago, may be familiar with the hotel. Government guests were usually kept there.”
The Prime Minister said, “I am standing in front of the elevator. At that time, another man came and stood next to me. It was clear from the look of the man that he was Indonesian. He could be Malaysian, but he looked almost Indonesian. He looked at me and asked, 'Country?' I said, 'Bangladesh.' He said within two seconds, O, Ziaur Rahman!”
He also said, “Maybe he didn't recognize the name Bangladesh immediately, but he knew it after hearing the name of Ziaur Rahman. That is, many people in the Muslim world understood Ziaur Rahman by saying Bangladesh, and by saying Ziaur Rahman, they understood Bangladesh. This was another experience of mine as a child, where I felt pride for my father.”
Highlighting the leadership and state management of martyred President Ziaur Rahman, the Prime Minister said, “Bangladesh, which was once called a 'bottomless basket' by Henry Kissinger, which was suffering from famine after independence, was taken to a different height by Martyr President Ziaur Rahman through hard work in a few years. Martyr President Ziaur Rahman took Bangladesh to a position in a very short period of time, where Bangladesh and Ziaur are at the world's court. Rahman – both names became synonymous. When people said Zia, they understood Zia.
He said, “We are doing the politics of that man's ideology. We are doing the politics of the party left behind by that man. Today we have to realize this issue.”
Referring to the economic reality of the country at that time, the Prime Minister said, “The economic condition that martyred President Ziaur Rahman inherited was the condition of a war-torn country. The change that people expected after independence has not yet come. That is, almost all the problems of the war-torn country were inherited by Shahid Zia.”
BNP Standing Committee members, senior leaders and leaders and activists of various organs and allied organizations were present in the discussion meeting.
