BNP leaders and activists are in a state of confusion over celebrating party chief Khaleda Zia’s birthday tomorrow as she has cancelled her London trip.
Khaleda was scheduled to fly to London tonight for medical check-up as well as to meet her elder son Tarique Rahman, senior vice-chairman of the party.
Besides, she was scheduled to hold meetings with high profile politicians of the United Kingdom including Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma.
However, on Wednesday night, the former premier called off the trip.
“Madam [Khaleda] was scheduled to go to London to avoid controversies. But now as the trip has been cancelled, it is difficult to make any comment on how her birthday will be celebrated. She might spend the day at home with family members,” a senior BNP leader told the Dhaka Tribune, seeking anonymity.
Another senior leader said: “It would be tough for her to avoid the celebrations as party leaders and activists will surely go to her office with cakes and flowers. It has become a tradition.”
On cancelling London trip, the leader said: “Some changes were made in the schedule of meeting with the UK leaders; probably that is why she changed her mind at the eleventh hour.”
The visa processing for Khaleda’s London trip was done and she could fly to London anytime now. A fresh date for her departure would be announced after her meetings with the UK politicians were fixed, he said.
“It is a matter of Khaleda’s personal preferences. We have nothing to say about it,” said BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan.
Party insiders told the Dhaka Tribune that Khaleda Zia has decided to celebrate her birthday tomorrow in a simple manner to avoid controversy.
Every year, BNP leaders and activists throng her Gulshan office at 12:01am to wish her with cakes and flowers. However, this year Khaleda is likely to skip the programme and stay home instead, they said.
Celebrations of Khaleda’s birthday on August 15, the death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has always been controversial as Khaleda had never celebrated this day as her birthday before mid-1990s. Moreover, in the past, various media reports point to different dates of her birth.
According to one such report, Khaleda had mentioned September 5, 1946 as her birthday in her matriculation examination form. Her marriage certificate and the record of her prime ministerial oath mention August 5, 1944 and August 19, 1947 as her birth dates.
Recently two images of her passports – one that expired in May 2014 and a machine-readable one – have been circulating on Facebook and both mention August 5, 1946 as her date of birth.
If these images are not fake, the total number of Khaleda’s birthday stands at five: August 5, 1944; August 5, 1946; August 19, 1947; September 5, 1946 and August 15 – the last one does not mention the year.
The Awami League has called upon Khaleda several times not to celebrate her birthday on August 15 as a gesture of respect to the Father of the Nation. The BNP has, however, defended the celebration, saying it was indeed her birthday. It even asks whether people can be born on the day.
When Sheikh Hasina came to power in 1996, she declared August 15 as a national holiday with the status of a national mourning day. When Khaleda was elected to power in 2001, she scrapped the status. This was restored after Hasina again came to power in 2009.