For the first time all top politicians of major parties in Bangladesh are going to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha abroad at a time.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, Opposition Leader in Parliament Raushan Ershad, Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and her deputy Advocate Fazle Rabbi, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed, IGP Shahidul Haque, a number of ministers, parliamentarians and dozens of AL-BNP leaders will celebrate Eid on Friday while they will be staying in foreign countries.
VIPs, CIPs, diplomats and high officials of the government in Dhaka will have somewhat relaxed time during the coming Eid ul-Azha on Friday as they will not be required to attend Eid greeting programmes of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, BNP chief Khaleda Zia and Raushan Ershad's programmes, except for attending President Abdul Hamid's Eid greetings exchange programme.
The Daily Observer learnt all this from the personal staff of the leaders and the   public relation officers of different ministries.
Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League chief, the opposition leader and the chiefs of other major parties usually do the same on the Eid day. But this year, it's going to be different. So, most of the AL and BNP leaders and activists will spend this Eid out of the capital who usually attended Eid greetings programme by their top leaders every year.
When the Eid will be celebrated across the country on September 25, Sheikh Hasina will join the United Nations General Assembly and stay in New York from September 23 to October 1 to receive the UN's highest environment honour, 'Champions of the Earth', and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) award for ICTs in sustainable development. She will celebrate the Eid and her birth anniversary there with her family members. AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam will be with his family in London.
Opposition Leader Raushan Ershad will be in Singapore. Her husband and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, however, will celebrate the festival in Dhaka while his party Secretary General Ziauddin Bablu, Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud and State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu are in Saudi Arabia to perform hajj.
Besides, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury went to the United States on September 23 to attend a programme of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and will return home after Eid.