The BNP will commemorate its 46th anniversary around the country on Sunday with a limited number of programs.

While the party is in high spirits this year, bolstered by the defeat of its longstanding adversary the Awami League after nearly 16 years, the BNP has opted to commemorate its founding anniversary in a restricted way.

Due to catastrophic flooding in the country’s eastern region, the party has curtailed its previously announced lavish programming.

On September 1, 1978, late President Ziaur Rahman established the party with a 19-point plan to create a self-sufficient Bangladesh.

Under the revised program, the BNP will observe the day with traditional activities, including hoisting the party flag at the Nayapaltan central office and all BNP offices nationwide on Sunday morning. The observance will also feature offering Fateha and placing wreaths at the grave of the party’s founder, Ziaur Rahman, in the capital on Sunday.

The leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies, led by party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, will place wreaths and offer munajat (special prayers) at the grave of its founder Ziaur Rahman at 11am.

Besides, the BNP will arrange a doa mahfil at its Nayapaltan Central office in the afternoon on the same day. The programme will be arranged seeking divine blessings for those affected by the flooding, for those who were killed and injured in the recent student-led mass movement, and for the swift recovery of Khaleda Zia, the widow of Ziaur Rahman.

At a recent meeting, the BNP’s standing committee cancelled the five-day programmes and allocated the funds intended for these events to the party’s relief fund. This fund will be used to assist the flood victims.

The BNP’s associate bodies and all of their units around the country will honour the day with doa mahfils, talks, and aid distributions in flood-affected areas.

In its 45-year history, the BNP has been in power four times and served on the opposition bench twice. Since the political transition on 1/11, the BNP has been out of power for approximately 18 years.

In separate statements, BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir congratulated the country’s people, party leaders, workers, and supporters on the occasion.