Protesting the decision to remove their party founder Ziaur Rahman’s Bir Uttam gallantry title, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir described the move as a “stigma” to the liberation war on Wednesday.
"I think the decision of the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council to repeal the gallantry title [conferred on Zia] has been taken out of political vengeance,” he said.
Talking to UNB, Fakhrul, now in Singapore for treatment, also said those who took this decision “don’t have respect” for the liberation war.
“They are against independence, the liberation war, and are completely against freedom fighters. The war of independence has been stigmatized with this decision. I strongly condemn and protest such a move,” he added.
The Jatiya Muktijoddha Council at a meeting on Tuesday decided to scrap Ziaur Rahman’s gallantry award for violating the constitution, and abetting the self-proclaimed killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in escaping the country.
The meeting also decided to repeal the state-given awards to Bangabandhu’s convicted killers- Noor Chowdhury, Shariful Haque Dalim, Mosleh Uddin, and Rashed Chowdhury.
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Bir Uttam, the second-highest award for individual gallantry in Bangladesh, was conferred to Ziaur Rahman for his contributions to the liberation war as a sector commander.
Fakhrul said the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council has taken this move to divert attention to a different direction from the government’s alleged misdeeds and corruption that are surfacing in various ways.
Recalling the memorable role of Ziaur Rahman in the liberation war in 1971, he said their party founder not only proclaimed the country’s independence, but also fought inside the country against the Pakistani occupation forces for nine months as a sector commander.
The BNP leader claimed that every citizen in the country and people across the world know that the liberation war in Bangladesh started with Zia’s declaration of independence.
He also said it was the government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that conferred the Bir Uttam title on Zia after the country’s independence.
Fakhrul went to Singapore for treatment at Farrer Park Hospital for various health complexities on January 30.
