The government has started a “nonsensical operation” from behind the scenes to stop the BNP's rally scheduled to be held on Wednesday, the party's senior joint secretary general, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, has said.
“The government is creating confusion to foil the rally… It has started an operation so that BNP activists are unable to gather [at Naya Paltan] from Dhaka and surrounding areas and join the rally. They are trying to create an obstruction through nonsensical activities,” Rizvi said while addressing an emergency press briefing on Tuesday night at the BNP's Naya Paltan office in Dhaka.
“Bus and truck owners have already returned us vehicle fares that they took as advanced payment.”
He also claimed a statement, seemingly signed by him and Organizing Secretary Emran Saleh Prince, was circulating on social media, which said the date of the rally had been changed to July 22, before terming it fake and alleging that the government had done it to mislead the masses.
Referring to it as a planned move by the government, he said Wednesday's BNP rally would be historic. The government was spreading fake information as it was afraid of the BNP rally, he added.
The BNP had hoped that the government would not stand in the way of BNP gatherings as it had done in the past, Rizvi said. “But now the government is trying to create confusion.”
“It will be a peaceful gathering, and we hope our leaders and activists will come here overcoming all obstacles. This gathering will become a sea of people.”
The veteran politician also claimed that three BNP leaders sustained injured after coming under attack by Awami League men on Tuesday while making announcements for the rally.
His allegations came with both the ruling Awami League and the opposition BNP getting permission from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to hold rallies at two separate places in Dhaka on Wednesday on 23 conditions.
The Awami League will hold its rally at the south gate of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque and the BNP before its central office at Naya Paltan – from 2pm-5pm on Wednesday, reads a letter signed by DMP Commissioner's Special Assistant Syed Mamun Mostafa on Tuesday.
