BNP will hold nationwide mourning rallies, including in the capital, on Thursday, protesting the killing of a Krishak Dal leader in Laxmipur and the attacks on the road march programme of the party and its alliance partners in different parts of the country on Tuesday.
The leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies will hold a rally in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office at 3pm.
BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas announced the programme while concluding the party’s second-day march from Uttara’s Abdullahpur toward Jatrabari in the capital on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the mourning rallies will be brought out in all metropolitan cities and district towns.
In Dhaka, he said they will take out a mourning rally from Nayapaltan at 3pm and it will end at Moghbazar after parading different roads through Shantinagar, Malibagh and Mouchak.
Besides, he said their party leaders and activists will distribute leaflets among Muslim devotees in mosques across the country after Juma prayers to press home their one-point demand, including the resignation of the government.
Earlier in the day, thousands of leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies marched from Uttara to Jatrabari for the second day in a row under the scorching sun.
The party concluded the march programme through a brief rally in Jatrabari as its leaders and workers reached there after walking a long stretch of the road. A similar programme was held in all other metropolitan cities and district town.
Alongside the BNP, Ganatantra Mancha, 12-party alliance, Jatiyatabadi Samomona Jote, the Liberal Democratic Party, Gonoforum and People’s Party, Labour Party, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Gonotantrik Bam Oikya, Samomona Gonotantrik Peshajibi Jote and Sadaran Chhatra Odhikar Sanrakshan Parishad marched in the city’s different areas for a second straight day.
Speaking at the rally in Jatrabari, Mirza Abbas said BNP will not go to the next election under the Awami League government. “Those who will join the polls under this government will be identified as its collaborators. They will be tried on the soil of this country.”
He claimed that not only BNP but also the entire world wants a free, fair and acceptable election in Bangladesh as credible elections were not held under the current regime.
The BNP leader warned that those who attacked the opposition’s march programme in different areas of the country and killed a Krishok Dal leader in Laxmipur must be held accountable someday.
He also said those involved in the political killings over the last 15 years will also be tried.
Earlier, Abbas formally inaugurated the march in front of Polwel Market at Uttara’s Abdullahpur around 11:05am.
Addressing a brief rally before starting the march, he warned that their party will no longer tolerate political persecution as they will come up with a fitting reply in the days to come.
“The people of Bangladesh will realise their right to vote. We have endured your (govt’s) tortures for 15 years. We won’t tolerate it anymore. Inshallah, we will give a befitting reply to the repressions you (AL) carried out on us yesterday across the country," Abbas said.
The BNP leader said their party has been on a peaceful movement to restore democracy and the rights of people. “We have to realise our freedom of expression and our right to vote.”
“How can we spare you when you throw brickbats and stones from (Mirpur) Bangla College while we’re staging our march? It won’t happen. The days of sparing you are over. No one else will be spared as we have to protect our rights,” he said.
The BNP leader said their party leaders and workers have learned how to go to jail, embrace death and hold rallies and processions (braving obstacles). “We’ll no longer tolerate your torture. We’ll respond to atrocities."
He alleged that the ruling party leaders and workers are creating chaos in the name of “peace procession” countering BNP’s peaceful programmes.
“A man of our party was killed in Laxmipur yesterday (Tuesday) and you are creating chaos in the name of peace march. Why do you want to create trouble?” the BNP leader said.
He urged the ruling party not to give counter programmes to avoid violence and chaos.
Reacting to Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader’s comment that their party will not move even a hair's breadth from the constitution in holding the next national election, Abbas said they also want the election as per the constitution that was before annulling the 15th amendment.
Earlier on Tuesday, BNP marched from Gabtoi to Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka as well as in all cities and district towns.
The party’s march on Tuesday was marked by violent clashes with police and Awami League activists across the country that left at least one man dead and several hundred people injured.
BNP's march also came under attack near Mirpur's Govt Bangla college in the capital, resulting in a clash between the supporters of the ruling and opposition parties.
On July 12, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir formally announced a ‘one-point’ movement with the goal to remove Awami League from power to hold the upcoming national elections under a neutral government.
As part of the first programme to realise the one-point demand, he also announced a two-day countrywide march programme for July 18 and 19.