President, CA plan Tungipara visit

Dhaka, Aug 12 (bdnews24.com)—President Iajuddin Ahmed and chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed plan to visit Tungipara on Aug 15 to pay their respects to Bangabandhu on his death anniversary, a spokesman said Sunday. Law adviser Mainul Hosein however told bdnews24.com that declaring Aug 15 a national mourning day and public holiday was beyond the government's authority at the moment as a case was pending with the High Court. "The issue of declaring Aug 15 a holiday now lies with the court. The government cannot decide the matter," he told bdnews24.com by phone. Kazi Md Aminul Islam, acting secretary to the Chief Adviser's Office, confirmed the visits of the president and the chief adviser to Bangabandhu's grave in Tungipara. "The three defence forces' chiefs have plans to visit Tungipara the same day," he said. On assumption of power in 1996, the Awami League declared Aug 15 a national holiday, commemorating the assassination of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on Aug 15, 1975. The Khaleda administration scrapped the holiday after it came to power in 2001. The High Court on Aug 5 asked the government to explain why Aug 15 should not be declared a government holiday again.