City Desk :
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir turned 74 on Wednesday with birthday wishes pouring in for him.
As in previous years, the BNP leader’s birthday was marked by wishes from family members and party leaders and activists.
Fakhrul woke up in the morning with his elder daughter Mirza Shamaruh wising him ‘happy birthday’ followed by his sister Anarkali Farhad Banu Nagina Amin, the wife of ex-Army Chief Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, reports UNB.
Talking to UNB, the BNP leader said there was no formal programme to celebrate the birthday, but his relatives, friends, and party leader and activists from home and abroad wished him on the occasion.
“I usually don’t celebrate my birthday. I woke up in the morning with the phone call of my elder daughter from Australia and she wished me.
Then my sister, younger daughter also phoned me saying, ‘Happy birthday,” he said.
Fakhrul said though he recovered from Covid after being tested positive for the virus on January 10, he is still very week.
He said their party acting chairman Tarique Rahman, party senior leaders, friends and well-wishers also wished him on his birthday. “This is how my birthday is passing by.”
Asked about his feelings on the occasion, Fakhrul said, “Birthday means I lost another year from my life and my days on earth are now numbered. As I now turned 74, you can say it’s a long journey for me and I’ve seen many things…I’ve found the means to survive. Life is beautiful to me!”
But the BNP leader bemoaned that the people of Bangladesh have long been going through a bad time. “I strongly believe a positive change will come and the bad days will end. The people of Bangladesh never ultimately get defeated.”
Fakhrul was born on January 26, 1948 in Thakurgaon. His father late Mirza Ruhul Amin was a Muslim League leader and a minister of the Pakistan government.
Fakhrul, who had involvement with left politics during his student life, completed his graduation and post-graduation from Dhaka University’s Economics department.
Later, he took up teaching as his profession through the BCS examination. Fakhrul quit teaching during the 80s and joined politics formally.
He was elected MP from Thakurgaon-1 with BNP’s ticket in 2001 and then made a state minister. He was also elected MP from Bogura-6 seat in the 11th parliamentary election. But he did not take oath yet as BNP rejected the election results.
Fakhrul was made acting secretary general of BNP after the death of party’s then secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain in 2011. He was given the full charge of the party’s secretary general position five years later in 2016.
