Eid without top leaders

In an unprecedented instance, almost all the key leaders -- including the prime minister, the opposition leader and the BNP chief -- will not be in the country during the Eid-ul-Azha.

Also, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, a number of ministers and parliamentarians, and the general secretaries of both the ruling and the opposition parties will celebrate the Eid on Friday abroad.

The Daily Star learnt all this from the personal staff of the leaders and the   public relation officers of different       ministries.

However, President Abdul Hamid will be in Dhaka and, as on the previous occasions, will exchange Eid greetings with the people. The premier, 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.

PM Sheikh Hasina, also president of the ruling Awami League, is scheduled to fly for the USA on Wednesday to attend the United Nations General Assembly. She would celebrate the Eid there with her family members. On her way back, Hasina is likely to stay in London for a day and return home on October 3.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury will visit the US before the Eid while her deputy Fazley Rabbi Mia is already in Saudi Arabia for hajj.

Opposition Leader Raushan Ershad will be in Singapore. Her husband and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, however, will celebrate the festival in Dhaka.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is now in London on a two-week tour for, the party says, medical check-up. She would celebrate the Eid with her family there. This is the first time the former premier will be out of the country on the occasion.

AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, also the public administration minister, is in the UK now to celebrate the festival with his family, while BNP's acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is returning home from the US for the Eid.

"Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is currently in Singapore and likely to return home tomorrow night [tonight]," said Sairul Kabir Khan, a staff of the BNP chairperson's media wing.

Before going to Singapore for "medical purposes", Fakhrul was in the US and, according to BNP sources, had no plan to come home before the Eid. But he changed his mind following Khaleda's instructions to return home and celebrate the occasion with party activists in her absence.

JP Secretary General Ziauddin Bablu is in Saudi Arabia for hajj, as are a number of key government figures -- Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Religious Affairs Minister Matiur Rahman, Land Minister Shamsur Rahman Sharif, Food Minister Qamrul Islam and State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, his deputy Shahriar Alam and Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam would accompany the PM on the USA tour and so wouldn't be home for the Eid.

Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain will leave the country tomorrow to spend the Eid with his daughter in the US. LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain too would leave for the country a day before the Eid to attend a programme there.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal is currently in London and would return after the Eid, while State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Narayan Chandra Chanda is going to India today for medical treatment and wouldn't return before the festival.

However, there are some cabinet members -- including Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, and Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, also chief of Workers Party of Bangladesh -- who are currently abroad but will be home for the Eid.