Dhaka, Aug 12 (V7N) — BNP Standing Committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy has said it cannot be stated with certainty that Sheikh Hasina had no involvement in the death of former President Ziaur Rahman. He noted that Zia was assassinated just 13 days after Sheikh Hasina’s return to Bangladesh in 1981.

Gayeshwar made the remarks during a food distribution programme in Paltan on Tuesday, marking the birth anniversary of his son-in-law, Arafat Rahman.

At the same event, BNP Standing Committee member Dr. AZM Zahid Hasan said national elections must be held through a transparent process so that people can freely choose their government without fear, fulfilling what he described as “the dreams of the July martyrs.”

Earlier in the day, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi paid tribute at Arafat Rahman Koko’s grave in Banani. He described Koko as a “victim of political vendetta” and claimed that his untimely death would not have occurred under normal political circumstances.

Rizvi also alleged that a vested group is conspiring to make the upcoming national election controversial by spreading religious confusion. He urged the government to take action against extortionists and illegal occupiers.

END/RH/AJ