Begum Khaleda Zia, the 'uncompromising'(!) leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has proved once again that her alliance with the killers of Bangladesh's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the enemies of the country's independence was inseparable and her allegiance of being with them was unbreakable.
This has been reconfirmed on Saturday, August 15, the National Mourning Day for Bangabandhu and his family members who were gunned down on this fateful day in 1975. Khaleda Zia celebrates her birthday on August 15 (although she has two other birthdays) in a "notorious" feat of politics performed in detestable manner  to show her personal disrespect to the saddest event in Bangladesh's history.
The 70-year old BNP chief on Saturday evening cut five cakes, 70 pounds each, by stepping aside from the previous years when she used to cut cakes at midnight of August 14 at the party central office amid fanfare and festivities in presence of her party leaders and workers.
This time she attempted to befool people and make them believe that she lately realized it was a political shame and an act of misconduct to conspiratorially set her birthday to the clock of Bangabandhu's slaying.
After plenty of media speculation and guessing throughout the country - people felt somewhat relieved that this year she didn't wedge the knife in heaps of birthday cakes at one minute past midnight of August 15. It apparently suggested that she has changed mind and decided not to humiliate herself by mocking her birthday celebration on the National Mourning Day.
But in the morning of August 15 the 'mystery' was over  and it was all clear that Khaleda Zia has not changed and she won't compromise on her mistakes. She asked her party leaders and workers to arrange the birthday cakes and fanfare belying the media reports and people's expectations.
Brought in by several BNP wings, Khaleda Zia cut the birthday cakes at her decorated and illuminated posh residence in Gulshan, taking the traditional celebration venue away from BNP's central office.
Khaleda Zia did this in total defiance of public opinion and requests even by her Adviser former Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor  Imajuddin Ahmed and the founder of Ganshaystho Kendro Dr. Zafrulla Chowdhury that she should not match her 'mock' birthday to the death anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Awami league leaders also requested her repeatedly to stop celebrating one of her three birthdays on August 15 showing minimum respect to the founder of the country and wishes of Bangladeshi people.
But she would not listen to anyone and remained firm to play her game of sheer rivalry and shameless ego that eroded her popularity as a party leader. The BNP Chairperson is arrogant with deep-seated hatred and disrespect for national leaders, and the Liberation War history of Bangladesh. She has set her mind to the principles of Jamaat-e-Islami, who opposed the Independence War, and the killers of Bangabandhu , while she vainly tries to "enshrine" herself as an adorable leader.
By celebrating birthday on August 15, Khaleda Zia rejoices over the killing of Bangabandhu and his family. This proves her to be totally out of political decency. She must also realize that matching her birth with the tragic killing of a leader of Bangabandhu's stature will take her nowhere near to him. She loses in all her attempts but never learns the fine tenets of politics.
According to media reports, Khaleda Zia has mentioned three separate dates of birth in various documents -- September 5, 1946 in her matriculation examination form; August 5, 1944 in her marriage certificate and August 19, 1947 in the official profile published in the media following her swearing in as Prime Minister in 1991.
Then all of a sudden after coming to power in 1991, Khaleda Zia and her party started celebrating her birthday on August 15. What a big day for Khaleda! She chose her birthday to coincide the death of the Father of the Nation when the entire nation observes it as National Mourning Day.
What Khaleda Zia wants to gain by denying history and defaming the history makers? This exposes her hollow politics and, as alleged by many, personal imbalance. She has now been under tremendous mental pressure from corruption cases against herself and her son Tarique Rahman, BNP's senior Vice-Chairman, who has been in self exile in London for seven years to evade the corruption cases in Bangladesh. Though he made London an outpost to carry out lies and slander against Bangladesh and its founder, he and his mother both are now in deep trouble in trying to survive in politics.
She is now trying to restructure her party by cropping off the old and sick leaders, many of who are already in jail with charges of corruption, violence or arson attacks on their heads. Others have been fleeing from law.
Khaleda Zia tries to demean not only the anniversary of Bangabandhu's 'martyrdom' but also the Language Martyrs Day (21st February) and the Independence Day (March 26) by skipping going to the memorials to pay respect. She is perhaps the only political leader who stays home on all those sensitive, emotional and historic occasions. Yet, she claims to be a people's leader - a mockery to politics.
A leader who was born on three (?) separate days, is one who people find hard to believe and put trust on her. That's one reason the BNP suffers badly in all fronts of politics.
BNP leaders privately say BNP's one after another debacle in elections and national issues are to be squarely blamed on the "dictatorial" decisions taken by Khaleda Zia without consulting the 'sane' leaders in the BNP.
Many in her party now feel that BNP will lose its strength and people's support and go in limbo if she continues to take party decisions depending on her son Tarique Rahman and Pakistani collaborator Jamaat-e-Islami as well as fundamentalist forces.