BNP will stage a five-hour sit-in program at all the important entry points of the capital on Saturday to press home their one-point demand.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the program from the party’s massive grand rally in the city’s Nayapaltan area.
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He said their sit-in program will be observed from 11 am to 4 pm in a peaceful manner.
"Our programme will be completely peaceful. Observing this programme is our constitutional right,” the BNP leader told the rally.
He hoped that the administration will fulfill its constitutional duty by allowing the opposition to observe the program in a peaceful manner.
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“The Holy Ashura will be observed tonight (Friday night) and tomorrow (Saturday) is the public holiday. That’s why we all parties will carry out our programme peacefully together on Saturday. We hope that the administration and the government will cooperate with us."
Apart from BNP, 37 like-minded political parties and alliances also held separate rallies in different city areas to mount pressure on the government to accept the one-point demand that includes the resignation of the Awami League government and holding the next election under a neutral government.
Fakhrul termed the current regime illegal and unconstitutional and said no fair election can be held under it. “This government has destroyed the country’s electoral system to illegally hang onto power. So, Sheikh Hasina must resign, parliament has to be dissolved and the election will have to be held under a neutral government.”
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He said Awami League wants to cling to power by again fooling people and using the state apparatus.
The BNP leader said their party along with other opposition parties has been carrying out a simultaneous movement to hold the next polls under a non-party administration.
He urged the government to accept their one-point demand if it wants the country’s good. “Or else, we’ll settle the matter on the streets.”
Narrating the repression on their party leaders and activists, the BNP leader said several thousand opposition activists who came to Dhaka for joining the grand rally were arrested.
He urged the law enforcers and the administration not to obey any illegal orders of the current government and not to take a position against the people. “We would like to clearly say from this rally stop the arrests and harassment and release those who are in jail.”
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Before Fakhrul announced their next course of action for the one-point movement, BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman delivered a speech virtually that invigorated the crowd.
BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas said the days of this government are numbered as the country’s people are not with it.
He alleged that some ruling party leaders are making unguarded remarks against BNP sensing their immediate fall.
The BNP leader said the government arrested many opposition leaders and activists ahead of the grand rally as it suffers from a fear of facing public wrath. “But they could not resist people from joining the rally.”
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Another standing committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan said the people have shown their no confidence in the government through their massive participation in the grand rally.
He said the government will not be able to subdue the people’s movement by using the state machinery. “I call upon the government to step down peacefully.”
BNP standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said an unprecedented number of people have taken part in the rally sending out a message to the Prime Minister to go.
He called upon the Prime Minister to get ready to leave Gonobhaban with her bag and baggage.
The grand rally arranged by BNP’s Dhaka south and north city units formally began around 2:15 pm with the participation of thousands of leaders and activists of the party and its associate bodies.
Carrying banners, festoons, placards and portraits of the party’s top leaders, the opposition activists from across the country took part in the programme. They even stayed at the rally venue braving the rain twice around 1:30 pm and 4pm.
The roads and alleys stretching from Fakirapul to Kakrail Mosque were crowded with BNP activists, halting traffic in the area. The expanding rally crowd spilled out onto nearby roads and streets and spaces.
Many leaders and activists of the party alleged that they had to face checking by law enforcement agencies at the entry points of the capital.