Tarique pays homage to Zia with emotion, tears

Tarique placed a wreath at the grave along with senior BNP leaders, including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and members of the party’s Standing Committee.

A munajat was offered there seeking the salvation of Zia’s departed soul, the early recovery of Khaleda Zia, and the welfare of the country and its people.

Later, Tarique stood before the grave for a while in prayer with visible emotion and offered fateha. He was seen wiping tears with a handkerchief.

Tarique left his Gulshan Avenue residence around 2:54 pm in a bus decorated in red and green under tight security and reached Ziaur Rahman’s grave around 4:45 pm.

Earlier, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other senior leaders received him and accompanied him to the grave premises.

It took him one hour and 51 minutes to reach the grave due to the massive presence of party leaders and workers, who lined both sides of the road, making the route narrow for his motorcade. Throughout the journey, he waved to supporters from inside the bus.

He had used the same bus, inscribed with the slogan 'Bangladesh First', on Thursday while travelling from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to the public reception venue, Evercare Hospital, and his Gulshan residence.

Thousands of BNP leaders and activists gathered in and around Zia’s grave and the National Parliament complex. From early morning, party leaders and members of its associate organisations thronged Zia Udyan and nearby areas in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. Some carried party flags, while others held banners and posters.

Security was tightened across Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. Additional law enforcement personnel were deployed at Zia’s grave and surrounding roads.

Checkpoints were set up at entry points, and party volunteers helped maintain order. Crowds continued to swell on roads near Zia Udyan before noon.

This is the first time in almost 19 years that Tarique Rahman has paid tribute at his father’s grave.

The last time he did so was on September 1, 2006, when he was serving as the party’s Senior Joint Secretary General, marking the BNP’s founding anniversary.

Tarique is also scheduled to visit the National Martyrs’ Memorial in Savar to pay tribute to the heroes of the Liberation War.

On Saturday, he will be formally registered as a voter. After completing the process, he will visit the grave of Osman Hadi near the Dhaka University Central Mosque.

He will then go to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), popularly known as Pangu Hospital, to meet those injured in the July 2024 uprising.

Tarique Rahman returned to Bangladesh on Thursday morning after nearly 17 years abroad. The aircraft carrying him, his wife Zubaida Rahman, and their daughter Zaima Rahman entered Bangladesh’s airspace earlier in the day.

His return has drawn widespread attention and strong emotions among BNP leaders, activists, and supporters across the country.

Tarique was greeted with a rapturous reception by hundreds of thousands of jubilant supporters, marking his homecoming as a historic and triumphant event, reports UNB.