The interim government has taken extensive preparations across the capital to ensure that the funeral prayers and burial of three-time former prime minister and BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia are carried out with full state honours.
Her namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayer) will be held on Wednesday, at 2pm after Zohr prayers at the South Plaza of the National Parliament House and the adjacent Manik Mia Avenue.
She will then be laid to rest at Zia Udyan in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, beside the grave of her husband, martyred President Ziaur Rahman.
To ensure the smooth and orderly conduct of the janaza and burial, several high-level coordination meetings were held on Tuesday at the chief adviser’s residence, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the National Parliament complex.
The meetings, chaired by Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, decided to deploy more than 10,000 members of law enforcement agencies to maintain security.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the namaz-e-janaza will be led by Mufti Abdul Malek, Khatib of the national mosque Baitul Mukarram.
Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said that the chief adviser, members of the Advisory Council, senior political leaders, and foreign diplomats will attend the janaza.
Begum Khaleda Zia passed away at 6am on Tuesday while undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in the capital.
The death of the country’s first female prime minister and chairperson of the BNP, who had been receiving medical treatment for a long time, has cast a deep shadow of grief over Bangladesh’s political landscape.
