The 11-party alliance on Monday announced that it will hold a nearly 400-kms long march from Dhaka to Kushtia on October 31, pressing its seven-point demands.
The alliance made the announcement after an emergency meeting of its liaison committee at the official residence of the Leader of the Opposition in the capital.
Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar, who briefed journalists after the meeting, said the long march will begin from the southern gate of Baitul Mukarram in Dhaka at 8 am, following an opening rally at 7 am.
The motorcade will travel through the Padma Bridge, Shariatpur, Madaripur, Bhanga, Faridpur, Gopalganj, Fakirhat, Khulna, Jashore, Jhenaidah and Kushtia, where a concluding rally will be held at the Kushtia Zilla School ground.
Roadside rallies are also planned at Naodoba in Shariatpur, Katakhali in Fakirhat, Babri Chattar (Shibbari intersection) in Khulna, Phultala in Khulna, Chanchra in Jashore, and Chuadanga Bus Stand intersection in Jhenaidah.
He said the decision was taken to shift the program from October 10 to October 31 considering the upcoming Durga Puja celebrations.
He said, “As citizens, it is our duty to extend sympathy and cooperation regarding the religious rights of the Hindu community.”
He urged the administration, police, intelligence agencies, road authorities, transport workers, and local people to cooperate to ensure a peaceful and orderly program.
“We will show the utmost patience and restraint even in the face of any provocation,” he said, adding that the alliance’s activists would not respond to attempts to create disorder.
Porwar also criticised what he described as the deteriorating law-and-order situation, referring to the arrest of former lawmaker Major (retd) Akhtaruzzaman at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and an alleged attack on NCP leader Nasiruddin Patwari’s motorcade in Kushtia.
He also condemned the reported attack on journalists at Rajshahi University and demanded action against those responsible.
Regarding the government’s recent fuel-price hikes, he said the alliance would continue its movement, arguing that rising fuel and LPG prices were worsening public suffering.
Asked about the demands of protesting autorickshaw drivers, Porwar said the alliance supports legitimate demands of workers and professionals but does not support violence, vandalism, or actions that make public life unbearable.
The alliance said further meetings would be held over the next 25 days to coordinate preparations for the long march across its organisational structures.