The BNP-led alliance might be saying that they would continue the blockade until the government steps down, but several senior leaders have given contradictory statements about their next course of action.
Even BNP insiders do not have any idea about the direction that their ongoing movement was taking.
They said they were virtually unprepared when the call for the blockade programme came from BNP chief Khaleda Zia on January 5.
The BNP did not consult with the 20-party alliance partners and its associate bodies before enforcing the blockade and as a result, they are now in the dark about the movement’s future.
BNP’s partner Jamaat-e-Islami, whose men have always played key roles in street violence in the past, have apparently been not as active this time.
Although the districts outside Dhaka have been feeling the heat of blockade violence, the country’s capital appears to be relatively normal with most offices and shops open and the city streets seeing a little less than usual traffic.
However, a sense of panic is also very much there among the residents of the capital as reports of sporadic crude bomb blasts and arson attacks on vehicles emerge in the media.
Since the blockade began on January 6, none of the mid-ranked leaders of BNP have been seen in the streets. No activist or leader of the party has show up at their heavily guarded and deserted Nayapaltan office. Even the press releases are being sent from unknown places.
Moreover, the arrests of stalwarts Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy and Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury have not made things easy for the party.
Over the last couple of days, several senior leaders including Vice-Chairman Hafizuddin Ahmed and standing committee member Rafiqul Islam Miah met Khaleda Zia, who has been allegedly kept confined in her Gulshan Office for 11 days.
A day after Hafizuddin Ahmed said they would lift the blockade if they are allowed to hold a rally in Dhaka, the party’s Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi yesterday said they would continue the blockade until the government is toppled.
Hafiz met the party chief at Gulshan on Monday. After he came out, reporters asked him whether they would lift the blockade if the government allowed their rally. In reply, he said the matter would be decided by the alliance, “but you will see a positive step from our side.”
Rafiqul Islam Miah met Khaleda on Sunday along with some other standing committee members. He told reporters on that day that the blockade would continue until the government took initiatives for holding talks over holding inclusive and participatory elections.
Yesterday, when asked about Hafizuddin’s remark, Rafiqul said: “I do not know what he said. But Madam [Khaleda] has told us to continue the movement until the government initiates a dialogue.”
However yesterday, BNP’s Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, who has been hiding for a week, said in a press statement that the ongoing movement will continue until the government resigns.
A senior leader told the Dhaka Tribune that leaders should be consistent in what they say. “The inconsistency has been creating confusion among the party’s rank and file. Leaders should speak in the same tone.”
Yesterday evening, a statement from the BNP standing committee signed by its Vice-Chairman Selima Rahman said the blockade will continue until their demands were met. The statement urged the people of the country to “endure the hardships for the time being” for the greater good of “restoring democracy.”