Three affiliate organizations of the BNP – the Jubo Dal, Swechhasebak Dal and Chhatra Dal – began a long march on Wednesday morning towards Brahmanbaria’s Akhaura land port at the Akhaura-Agartala border point to protest a recent attack on the Bangladesh mission in Agartala, India.
The program started at 9am at the party’s headquarters at Naya Paltan, Dhaka, after BNP leaders addressed a huge gathering.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi opened the long march.
Leaders and activists of the three affiliates began assembling at Naya Paltan at around 7am, donning colourful caps and carrying placards and posters to join the road march.
Before the march commenced, the three organizations held a brief rally.
The long march, which is also a protest against provocative reports by certain Indian media outlets, will conclude in Akhaura.
Chhatra Dal Senior Vice President Abu Afsan Mohammad Yahya previously said the march would be completed within the day.
Yahya added that the march would proceed through Ittefaq Mor and other locations, with several roadside gatherings along the way.
After holding meetings in different parts of Narsingdi and Bhairab, the procession would move towards Akhaura land port, he mentioned.
Shayrul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP’s media cell, said the Jubo Dal, Swechhasebak Dal and Chhatra Dal – the party’s youth, volunteer and student wings – were regarded as the vanguard of the party among its active and robust affiliates.
The program had been initiated under the guidance of BNP acting chairperson Tarique Rahman, he added.
Shayrul said these three organizations previously held youth conventions and road marches across the country in 2022-23.
“Given the national importance of issues like Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty, such programs are essential and inevitable for a leading political party like the BNP.”
Earlier this month, the Hindu Sangharsh Samiti vandalized the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala, Tripura, with the Bangladesh national flag taken down and set on fire, reportedly in protest against the arrest of Sanatani Jagaran Jote spokesperson Chinmoy Krishna Das in Bangladesh.
