Ziaur Rahman was 'Awliya of Allah': Jubo Dal leader Khorshed
Bangladesh has not seen another honest politician like BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, former president of Jubo Dal's Narayanganj unit Maksudul Alam Khandaker Khorshed said yesterday (19 January).
"I want to say one thing, I don't know how people will take it. Ziaur Rahman was Allah's Awliya [saint]. Why do I say this? There has never been another honest politician like him in Bangladesh. The proof of this is [former prime minister] Sheikh Hasina," he said at an event on the occasion of Zia's 89th birthday which was celebrated nationwide yesterday.
Hasina hasn't found any wrongdoing of his in the last 15 years, he said, adding that she has never been able to prove that Ziaur Rahman had illicit money in some bank account, or that he owned some 10 bighas of land or had a flat somewhere beyond people's knowledge.
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Khorshed, who gained popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic for performing last rites of deceased victims, is the younger brother of former adviser to the BNP chairperson Taimur Alam Khandaker.
During the press conference, Khorshed said Zia owned nothing other than his ancestral property.
"You will see many people have amassed thousands of crores in the name of the liberation war…For this reason, I believe that his honesty can be compared to many 'awliya's' [saints] of this country," said Khorshed.
Calling for a boycott of the Sheikh family, the Jubo Dal leader said, "Sheikh Hasina made an alliance with India and fled the country. Hasina did not think about the country, nor did she think about the leaders and activists of the Awami League. The Awami League should boycott Hasina and the Sheikh family for life."
Among others, BNP leaders Anwar Mahmud Bakul, Najmul Kabir Nahid, Shabbir Khandkar, Rana Mujib, Shaukat Khandkar, and others were present at the event.
