Rizvi says Koko promoted sports, not politics.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General and Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Ruhul Kabir Rizvi today said that Arafat Rahman Koko was not a politician but a sports organizer and worked for the development of sports in the country.
“The government should take steps to create opportunities for the sportspersons to make the sports as their profession and earn their livelihoods from it”, he made these remarks while talking to the journalists after paying respects at Koko’s grave in city’s Banani graveyard, marking Koko’s birth anniversary. He also offered Fateha and placed floral wreath there.
Rizvi said Arafat Rahman Koko was the younger son of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister and Begum Khaleda Zia. “He was not involved in politics. As a sports organizer, he worked for the development of sports,” he said.
He said Koko was a heart patient and died after suffering cardiac arrest while he was ill.
Recalling the circumstances surrounding the return of Koko’s body to Bangladesh, Rizvi said his mother Khaleda Zia was then under detention. She was confined inside her residence, which was barricaded with sand loaded trucks and when pepper spray was used there.
“There is no incident more tragic to me than a mother carrying the body of her son in her arms,” Rizvi said, describing the circumstances surrounding Koko’s death as extremely heartbreaking and tragic.
He said the programme was organized entirely in a non-political manner, although many BNP leaders were present.
Referring again to Khaleda Zia’s detention when Koko’s body arrived here, Rizvi said she was confined despite suffering from an eye injury and having undergone eye surgery. He alleged that pepper spray was used against her at that moment, further worsening her condition and that Koko’s body was then placed in her arms.
Rizvi described the incident as an expression of “revenge,” saying he could not recall any tragedy in history comparable to “a mother carrying the body of her son.”
He also accused ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of adopting various measures to harass the Zia family and erase its popularity and presence among the people.
He alleged that she had engaged in defamation, propaganda and falsehoods but had failed to substantiate those allegations.
“Why did she do this? She did these things to fulfill her desire for absolute dominance and to remain in power,” Rizvi said.
Referring to Ziaur Rahman’s declaration of independence and his role in the Liberation War, Rizvi said Ziaur Rahman was a distinguished freedom fighter and that Khaleda Zia and her children were detained during the Liberation War.
He alleged that Sheikh Hasina had taken every possible step to destroy the family that had contributed to the Liberation War.
Rizvi also spoke about Ziaur Rahman’s popularity and patriotism among the people, saying Sheikh Hasina could never tolerate them and had inflicted suffering on the family one after another.
Referring to BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, Rizvi said he had been subjected to physical persecution and had gone to London for medical treatment. He added that Sheikh Hasina eventually had to flee following a mass uprising, while Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia, is now the Prime Minister.
Rizvi said the Tarique Rahman’s government had begun implementing various public-welfare measures within days of assuming office.
Rizvi said Youth and Sports Minister Aminul Haque was present at the programme.
He expressed hope that the minister, as a close colleague and teammate of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, would complete the initiatives related to sports.
“If these are successfully completed within the stipulated time, Arafat Rahman Koko’s soul will have eternal peace,” he said.
Rizvi later criticized various political parties over the current political situation and differing interpretations of the history of the Liberation War.
He alleged that some political parties were now attempting, indirectly, to undermine the significance of 1971 and erase its history.
He said there was a “deep conspiracy” to erase the name of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, whom he described as inseparably linked with Bangladesh’s independence and the Liberation War.
“ Are you doing these things to please the fugitive fascist?” Rizvi asked, saying the question was now being raised by people across the country.
Rizvi also paid tribute to those killed during the July uprising, including Mugdha, Wasim Akram, Abu Sayeed and Ahnaf. He said all of them were heroes and that his party respected every one of them without ranking one sacrifice above another.
He claimed that the blood of numerous BNP leaders and activists and members of its affiliated organizations had also been shed behind the achievements of the movement.
Referring to BNP’s 17-year-long movement and struggle, Rizvi said the July uprising represented the culmination of that struggle against the enforced disappearances and killings.
Youth and Sports Minister Aminul Haque, Dhaka North City BNP Convener Aminul Haque, Dhaka North City BNP Member Secretary Mostafa Zaman, Dhaka North City BNP Joint Convener and lawmaker S M Jahangir, Dhaka North City BNP member Razaur Karim Fahmi, Bangladesh Cricket Board director Israfil Khusru and BNP leader Kamal Jamal Molla were present on the occasion.
