Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus sent a bouquet of flowers to BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia on Friday, extending his warm wishes on her birthday.

“The Chief Adviser sent the bouquet to Madam (Khaleda) this afternoon,” said BNP Standing Committee member Professor AZM Zahid Hossain. “His officials delivered it to her residence in Gulshan.”

Zahid, who also serves as Khaleda Zia’s personal physician, noted that the BNP chief herself does not host birthday celebrations. “She does not celebrate personally, but our party is holding milad and doa mahfils across the country,” he added.

The bouquet was handed over to Khaleda Zia’s private secretary, ABM Abdus Sattar, at 4:00 pm by Chief Adviser’s Private Secretary Shazeeb M Khairul Islam and Director of the Chief Adviser’s Office, Mohammad Nazmul Islam. BNP Executive Committee member Belayet Hossain, Media Cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan, and staff from the Chairperson’s personal wing, including Masud Rahman, were also present.

Yesterday evening, the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka sent a floral bouquet on behalf of the Chinese Ambassador to mark her birthday.

Born on August 15, 1945, in Dinajpur, Khaleda Zia became Bangladesh’s first female Prime Minister in 1991.

On the occasion of her 81st birthday, BNP organised milad and doa mahfils at its central office in Nayapaltan and at Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan residence. Similar prayers were held in mosques, orphanages, and madrasas across the country, seeking her good health and long life, and commemorating those martyred during the 1971 Liberation War, the 1990 pro-democracy movement, and the 2024 mass uprising.