Chattogram: It was around 11:30 pm on May 29, 1981. I was a bit surprised as to why the President only called me into his room. I entered his room on the 1st floor of the Chattogram Circuit House, which was later turned into a museum after Zia’s name.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the President sat facing east and I was facing west, sitting face to face. Zia wore white pajamas and a t-shirt. A water-filled jug and a glass were kept beside him on a tiny table. He wanted to know about my well-being and my family. ‘Look Jahangir, do you know why I founded BNP?’ President Zia asked me and then answered his own question without waiting for my response. ‘I established the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) not for power; my core aim is for the leaders and workers of this party to act as protectors of the country’s independence and sovereignty,’ Zia concluded.
After having dinner, President Zia along with some high-profile central and local party leaders discussed organizational issues at the lounge of the Circuit House. Then he went back to his room. After five minutes, he came out again, walked toward us but returned to his room only taking me with him. ‘This was a scattered episode of scenarios of the eventful tragic night of May 29, 1981, where a few hours later, a group of beleaguered army personnel attacked the Circuit House and killed a rare-breed man like Zia who had vision, undisputed quality of a statesman, a true patriot, and a brilliant military leader,’ Mohammad Jahangir Alam, founding general secretary of the Chattogram city unit of BNP, told BSS while recalling his last few memories with Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman.
President Zia came to the port city on a daylong tour in the morning on May 29, 1981, along with some cabinet members and top party leaders including the then Secretary General Dr. B Chowdhury. ‘On May 26, I got a phone call from Col. Mahfuj, the President’s Military Secretary, and was requested to come to Dhaka with the party’s Chattogram City unit President M Salimullah to meet with President Zia. On the following day, Mr. Salimullah and I reached the capital and met with President Zia at his Bangabhaban office room at about 8 pm. We came to know that the President had fixed May 29 to visit Chattogram. ‘I was surprised to learn about his Chattogram visit within a short span of time as he made another visit on May 10 to see the Chattogram Dry Dock Ltd plant,’ Jahangir said.
After having dinner with the President at Bangabhaban, Zia asked us not to gather people at the Chattogram airport, even not us, to receive him at the airport as he (Zia) already selected ten people to welcome him at the Chattogram Circuit House. We returned to Chattogram. We found both of our names among the ten selected persons. Zia along with his entourage members arrived at the Circuit House in the morning and we received him there. President Zia proceeded to the upstairs of the Circuit House with others including B Chowdhury, Dr. Amena Rahman, Syed Mohibul Hassan, Barrister Nazmul Huda, and Dr. AFM Yousuf. He spent some time at the lounge and had informal discussions and gossips with all of us. ‘At one stage, Zia stood beside the balcony and showed his keen interest to live in Chattogram,’ Jahangir recalled quoting the President as saying ‘Anis (Barrister Anis), find out a land here, I will live in this city as it is a beautiful place I like most.’
President performed his Juma prayer at Chandanpura Mosque- a beautiful heritage and architecturally unique design having four tall minarets. He exchanged views with selected personalities from different professions like lawyers, university teachers, and businessmen in the afternoon at the Circuit House conference room. He heard from them and explained his future plan to build a self-reliant economy, contain the population explosion, and alleviate poverty. Jahangir said later the President had dinner and talked with local leaders one after another separately. After that, I was called and met with him in his room at around 11:30 pm.
‘Look Jahangir, I floated BNP not for power. My core aim is for the leaders and workers of this party to work as protectors of the country’s Independence and sovereignty. In this regard, it is of utmost importance to develop a solid, organized, competent, and ideal workforce,’ Zia told me, adding that ‘I have asked Salimullah to organize a youth rally at Chattogram stadium and you must cooperate with him.’ ‘We need to establish a training center to develop a bona fide workforce. You look for a suitable place here. I will tell Feroj Noon (late Principal Feroj Noon),’ Jahangir said, as President Zia had told him, recalling the last conversation he had with Zia at the Circuit House room.
‘Sir, why are you talking about the party workers’ role as the protector of the country?’ I wanted to know from him by taking prior permission in the middle of the discussion. ‘Because we have to prepare ourselves to face any possible threat to our independence and sovereignty,’ President Zia replied, pointing to some geographically strategic aspects.
It was at 1:30 am on May 30, 1981. Zia came out from his room and told the then Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Ziauddin Ahmad to arrange a car for us. I and my president M Salimullah left the Circuit House with a car bearing the number plate Rangamati-1000. We conveyed Salaam and goodbye to our beloved President. ‘Who knows it will be our final goodbye with President Zia,’ Jahangir murmured as he paled, looking into the distance, his voice choked with emotion.
The elderly politician brushed aside the propaganda that Zia’s last visit to Chattogram was aimed at solving organizational disputes. ‘If it was true, Zia would have called two rival factions. Rather, his visit was to bring discipline to the party and interact with renowned personalities of various tiers to motivate them to be involved with the philosophy of Bangladeshi Nationalism.’
The then DGFI Chief late Major General Mhabbat Jan Chowdhury tried to bar Zia from visiting Chattogram, but President Zia didn’t heed that advice. ‘The killing of President Zia was a part of local and international conspiracy,’ Jahangir strongly opined, saying ‘That’s why we demanded a civil investigation into the Zia Killing incident by involving competent persons. Then the real motive and plot of the conspiracy would have been unearthed.’
In this context, he hinted at a scenario of that night. ‘At about 10 pm, we along with the then ADC (Dev) Mr. Rauf were staying on the ground floor of the Circuit House. The official land phone was ringing continuously as calls from outside were coming one after another. Most of the phone callers wanted to talk with Col Mahfuj, President Zia’s Military Secretary. ‘Being irritated and feeling something fishy after hearing the repeated ringing of the fixed phone set, at one stage, I asked Col. Mahfuj as to why so many phone calls were coming to you?’ Jahangir said. ‘But, Col Mahfuj did not utter a word, asking the concerned officer to transfer phone calls upstairs,’ Jahangir said.
Jahangir said, once, he wanted the then Prime Minister Shah Aziz to know why he would join Zia’s party BNP. Shah Aziz replied, ‘Ziaur Rahman is an extraordinarily brilliant person and a true patriot and uncompromising on the question of the country’s independence and sovereignty.’ ‘Zia had real faith in democratic values,’ Jahangir Alam, a 77-year-old politician and a lifelong admirer of President Zia and true believer in Zia’s philosophy, told BSS quoting the former PM during Zia’s regime.