BNP chief Khaleda Zia is unlikely to invite her archrival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to her younger son's qulkhwani, earlier scheduled for today but now deferred for a couple of days. The BNP-led 20-party alliance will hold doa mehfil (special prayers) at mosques across the country after today's Jum'a namaz for the salvation of those “killed by law enforcement agencies or in petrol bomb attacks
by government's agents” during the ongoing movement, according to a press release. The opposition combine came up with the changed plan on Wednesday night, hours after the ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance announced almost the same programme for the same day for those killed “in the hands of 20-party criminals”. About Arafat Rahman Koko's qulkhwani, a BNP standing committee member yesterday said it was scheduled to be held at Gulshan Azad Mosque after Asr prayers today. “But so far I know the qulkhwani has been deferred for couple of days,” the leader said without elaborating. Contacted, Khaleda Zia's special assistant Shimul Biswas said the date will be informed to the media once it will be finalised. A BNP insider close to Khaleda said she has been irked by the PM's “aggressive statements and filing of fresh cases against her”. Advertisement “It's almost certain that neither madam [Khaleda] nor the BNP will invite the prime minister to Koko's qulkhwani,” said the BNP insider. The BNP chief on Wednesday night expressed her deep gratitude for those who came to visit her after demise of Koko, saying she was very sorry for not being able to meet them, the party man added. The party insider added the way Sheikh Hasina spoke about the BNP chief in the last two days had frustrated the senior party leaders who on January 25 decided to request Khaleda to invite Hasina to Koko's qulkhwani. A number of senior BNP leaders in a close-door meeting that day agreed that the party lost some political grounds and there was a public outcry after Hasina went to visit Khaleda but had to return from the locked gate. The leaders believed the party needed to do some damage control as the government seemed to have got some mileage. A BNP leader, who was present at that meeting, said they had decided to ask Khaleda to invite the PM to the qulkhwani and had even drafted a letter for Khaleda to send.
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