Dhaka University’s pro-BNP teachers' organisation Sada Dal said on Saturday that Ziaur Rahman had laid the foundation stone of modern Bangladesh during his four-year term as president of the country.

Marking Ziaur Rahman’s birth anniversary, Sada Dal Convener Morshed Hasan Khan and Joint Conveners Prof Dr Abdus Salam and Prof Abul Kalam Sarker said in a statement that, upon assuming power, Ziaur Rahman restored the independence of the judiciary, the press, and re-established multi-party democracy.

“It is Shaheed Zia's Bangladesh nationalist philosophy that emerges as the true form of Bangladeshi nationhood, which gives us a definite identity of geographical nationhood,” they added.

They said that people had grown frustrated seeking relief from the corruption and exploitation that characterised the tenure of Sheikh Mujib.

“Unlike Mujib, Zia came from the army but understood the people's minds. So he dedicated himself to the reconstruction of the state. He undertook a 19-point programme to reform the state. He contributed in various sectors including agriculture, industry, health, education, science, and technology. Aside from these, he created new sectors and developed them,” the statement added.

It also said: “The popular uprising in 2024 is a new addition to history. It was a nation's collective slogan against a fascist state system, and through it, the nation regained its lost freedom. Democracy has been revived.”

The former president, Ziaur Rahman, was born on 19 January 1936 and was killed on 30 May 1981 by some rebel army officers.