The BNP on Thursday paid homage to its founder Ziaur Rahman, marking his 43rd death anniversary.
Party leaders and activists, led by its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, placed a wreath at Ziaur Rahman's grave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar around 11:25 am paying rich tributes to him.
They also joined a special prayer (munajat) seeking eternal peace of the departed soul of Zia and the good health of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
The leaders and workers of BNP's different units and associate bodies also placed wreaths at Zia's grave on the occasion.
Apart from Fakhrul, BNP Standing Committee Members Mirza Abbas, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, Vice Chairman AZM Zahid Hossain and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi were, among others, present.
The party and its different associate bodies chalked out a 15-day programme to observe the death anniversary nationwide with due respect.
The programmes include arranging discussion meetings, seminars, photo exhibitions, wearing black badges, publishing supplements in newspapers and distributing food and relief materials among the destitute.
The observance of Zia's death anniversary programmes began on Tuesday through a discussion programme arranged by Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal, freedom fighters' wing of the party, at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
The party organised a discussion meeting on Wednesday at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, in memory of Zia.
Ziaur Rahman who founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in 1978 was assassinated by a group of disgruntled army officers at Chittagong Circuit House on 30 May 1981.
In observance of the day, black flags were hoisted and party flags kept at half-mast atop the offices of the party and its associate bodies, including Nayapaltan headquarters at 6 am.
Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir issued a message on the occasion paying deep tributes to Zia.
He recalled the BNP founder's huge contributions to the Liberation War and the nation.
"The popularity of this great liberal democratic leader, Ziaur Rahman, could never be accepted by domestic and foreign conspirators. These conspirators assassinated President Ziaur Rahman on 30 May 1981. The nation lost a great patriotic nationalist leader through this tragic incident," Fakhrul said.
