BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday said the government has completely failed to control the market ahead of the holy month of Ramadan as the prices of all commodities have skyrocketed.
"The government has completely failed to solve the problems of the people. It has also failed to reduce the prices of all essential commodities, including rice, pulses and oil," he said.
He made the remarks at a five-hour mass hunger strike arranged by the BNP’s Dhaka north and south units in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka.
The hunger strike began at 10am and continued until 3pm.
Several hundred leaders and activists of the party and its associate bodies joined the program protesting the growing price hike of key commodities and utility services.
A large number of law enforcers were deployed near the venue to maintain law and order.
Fakhrul formally inaugurated the program participated by senior party leaders, including its standing committee members and conveners of the BNP’s Dhaka north and south units.
He said Ramadan, which begins on Sunday, is an important month for Muslims all over the world, adding: “But what is this government doing? The price of everything has skyrocketed only because of the unrestrained greed of the government and its business syndicates.”
The BNP secretary general called upon the people to come forward to oust the Awami League government from power to fix the current situation of the country. "This unelected government has created a terrible situation in the country,” he said.
He asked the government to hand over the power to a neutral administration, paving the way for holding a free and fair election by forming an impartial Election Commission.
Later, Fakhrul and other BNP leaders broke the hunger strike by sipping water offered by the former vice chancellor of Dhaka University, Prof Anwar Ullah Chowdhury.
Since last February, BNP has been staging demonstrations across the country, including in the capital, protesting unusual price hikes in essential commodities.