Khaleda has not cut cake to celebrate ‘birthday’

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has not cut cake to start celebrating her 'birthday' in the first hour of Aug 15 this year, reports bdnews24.com.

Nor has any programme held at her office at Gulshan or at party headquarters at Naya Paltan at Friday midnight.

No one other than security guards were seen at the deserted offices where 'huge' cakes were cut at the first hour of Aug 15 every year. There is great confusion about when the three-time former prime minister was born.

Khaleda stayed at her house 'Firoza' at Gulshan instead of going to her office to cut cakes like previous years.

Her sisters-in-law Nasrin Sayeed and Kaniz Fatema, and some other relatives came to visit her around 10:30pm.  They had dinner with her, according to security guards of the house. Last year, Khaleda cut a 50-pound cake.  She turned 70 on Saturday, according to BNP leaders.

BNP's affiliates Juba Dal, Mahila Dal, and Chhatra Dal leaders said they would celebrate her birthday Saturday, but not in the first hour. They said would hold special prayers and cut cakes.

 Awami League leaders have been urging Khaleda not to celebrate the birthday on Aug 15, as it coincides with the death anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

But the BNP chief paid no heed and cut cakes with party leaders and activists in the first hour of the day for the past two decades.

Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam urged Khaleda last Tuesday to celebrate the birthday on Aug 16 or 17.

BNP spokesman Asaduzzaman Ripon responded: "BNP is a large political party of Bangladesh. It has leaders, activists, supporters, fans. It (birthday celebration) is a matter of their emotion." "Ms Zia never celebrates the birthday herself," he added.

 He also said celebrating birthday was one's personal matter. "You can't decide on this, can't dictate whether to celebrate or not."

The BNP chief's latest passport says she was born in 1946, but senior leader Goyeshwar Chandra Roy proclaimed last year that her birth year was 1945. Several books on her life and a Banglapedia entry say she was born in 1945.

Khaleda's father Iskandar Majumder, originally from Feni, was a resident of Dinajpur. Khaleda was born there. Her mother was Tayeba Majumder.

Khaleda married Ziaur Rahman, then a captain of the Pakistani army, in August 1960. Zia fought as a sector commander in the 1971 Liberation War.

But after the 1975 coup and several that followed, Major Zia managed to capture power and emerge as the country's first military dictator.

The assassination of President Zia in May 1981 propelled Khaleda, who was a housewife until then, into the political hot seat. She began as the party's vice chairman and in 1984, became chairperson.

Khaleda played a big role in the movement against another military dictator HM Ershad, now Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Special Envoy.

The BNP chairperson's role was crucial in creating a popular base for the party, which was born in the cantonment.

The party won the 1991 elections and Khaleda became the first female prime minister of Bangladesh. She was also prime minister for a brief period after a controversial election in February 1996.

In 2001, the BNP-led coalition won the election and she once again became the prime minister. In the 2008 elections, she became the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.

As her party boycotted the Jan 5, 2014 elections, Khaleda lost her seat in Parliament for the first time in 24 years, thus losing her state protocol.