The BNP's Dhaka rally on the Golapbagh playground, near Sayedabad bus terminal in Dhaka, has started after a lot of drama, with thousands of leaders and activists of the party and its affiliates in attendance.
The country's largest opposition party's mass rally started at 11am on Saturday, and by then the venue was full to the brim and even the surrounding areas were crowded.
Amanullah Aman, convener of the BNP's Dhaka North unit, is presiding over the rally. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, a member of the party's standing committee, will address the crowd as the chief guest.
BNP Standing Committee Member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, chairperson's adviser Zainul Abedin Faruk, BNP Joint Secretary General Habibun Nabi Khan Sohel, Moazzem Hossain Alal, Former Rajshahi mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu, Chhatra Dal President Kazi Ronukul Hasan, Chhatra Dal former president Azizul Bari Helal and others are present on the stage.
Like the previous rallies, two chairs have been kept empty for Chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman.
Leaders and activists from different neighbourhoods of Dhaka and surrounding areas started coming to the venue in the morning, and the entire area was abuzz with slogans.
The gathering started on the field on Friday afternoon after the Dhaka Metropolitan Police gave the party permission to hold its rally there.
Meanwhile, the police and other law enforcement agencies are on the alert to prevent any untoward incidents.
BNP leaders claimed that some were facing obstacles on the way to the rally.
An activist of the BNP from Rajshahi said those going to the rally were being searched just for no reason.
Rifat Hossain, who came from Kishoreganj, said his heart was pounding. “I was praying to Allah to allow me to reach the rally.”
“We divided ourselves into 16-17 small groups to avoid any trouble. The police stopped us at different places and kept us standing for one and a half hours on the pretext of carrying out searches,” he added.
Some activists said they had to use different tactics to reach the venue, with some arriving Dhaka in ambulances with patients, others in goods-laden covered vans.
Some 32,000 police personnel have been deployed in the city to maintain law and order.
Besides, RAB and Ansar members are also in different parts of the city to avert any untoward incidents.
The BNP's rally in Dhaka city is the 10th and final one in a series of mass gatherings. The previous ones were held in Rajshahi, Chittagong, Mymensingh, Khulna, Rangpur, Barisal, Faridpur, Sylhet and Comilla.
The BNP had been threatening to besiege Dhaka and assume power through Saturday's rally.
Amid risk of violence, law enforcement agencies took all-out measures, including keeping Dhaka city BNP leaders and activists under close watch, to preempt "potential subversive activities" surrounding the rally.
The BNP maintains it will not participate in any election under this Election Commission and with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in power but will continue its movement until the government resigns.
