Leaders and activists of the BNP and its associate bodies are gathering in Sylhet city on motorcycles amid transport strikes and other obstacles ahead of the party's mass rally.
The BNP will hold its seventh mass rally on Alia Madrasa ground in Sylhet on Saturday.
A transport strike enforced by the local road transport associations is underway, from 6am on Friday in Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sunamganj districts.
The general public are suffering due to the transport strike.
However, thousands of BNP leaders and activists started thronging the rally venue on Friday morning, defying bans and other obstacles.
It was seen in the morning that BNP men from 12 upazilas, including Sunamganj Sadar, Bishwamvarpur, Tahirpur and Doarabazar, were going to the rally venue with a motorcycle fleet.
BNP activists claimed that they had faced police obstacles at Chalban Point Chadnighat, Abduz Jahoor Setu, Hashan Toran, Old Bus Stand area.
Bangla TribuneMeanwhile, due to the suspension of passenger buses and minibuses, commuters were suffering immensely. They were paying double the usual fares for travelling for urgent work.
Besides, most of the shops in the district town were closed.
The movement of cars, microbuses, CNG-run autorickshaws and easy-bikes along with other vehicles was normal on the main roads of the district.
However, these vehicles were charging extra, complained commuters.
Samchuzzaman, president of Sunamganj Swecchasebak Dal, said transport workers and owners had called a strike and the police were creating obstacles in the movement of vehicles. For that reason, the general public were in trouble, he added.
Kamrul Hasan Raju, organizing secretary of Jubo Dal's district unit, said: "To prevent BNP leaders and activists from joining the rally, police have taken up positions at every entry point of the city.”
The government had forced transport workers and owners to suspend bus and minibus services, he added.
Nurul Islam Nurul, general secretary of Sylhet BNP, said the police were “playing the role of Chhatra League”. BNP activists were being stopped at every point by the police, and they had closed all the roads of the city, he claimed.
Mohammad Abu Sayed, additional superintendent of Sylhet police, said they were on the alert to maintain law and order.
Strict action would be taken if any disturbance was created anywhere, he added.
The BNP on 27 September announced a series of public rallies in 10 divisional and big cities.
The party will end its divisional rallies through a mass gathering in Dhaka on December 10.
