The 11-party opposition alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami launched a Dhaka-Chittagong long march yesterday, warning that its street movement would intensify unless the government addresses its demands.
The alliance is demanding implementation of the referendum verdict, justice for the July killings, and measures to ease shortages of electricity, gas, fuel and fertilizer, control rising prices, improve law and order and end what it describes as narrow, partisan politics.
Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Leader of the Opposition Dr Shafiqur Rahman said the alliance had taken to the streets for people’s rights and would continue its movement until those rights were ensured.
“Our long march is for the people of 180 million. We have taken to the streets for their rights and will return home only after securing those rights,” he said at the opening rally at Shapla Chattar in Motijheel.
The march began around 8:30am and was scheduled to culminate in a rally at Laldighi Maidan in Chittagong in the evening.
Speaking at a roadside rally in Mahipal, Feni, around 4pm, Shafiqur warned that the alliance was prepared to escalate the movement.
“We are giving this government some time, but this time will not be long. Stay prepared. When the final call comes, you and all of us will have to come out onto the streets, putting our lives at stake,” he said.
He said the movement would continue both on the streets and inside parliament until people’s rights were ensured.
“We know everyone. We know who has how much courage,” Shafiqur said, adding that it would not take 17 years to drive out anyone seeking to establish “new fascism” in Bangladesh.
At the Feni rally, he accused the government of failing to address shortages of electricity, gas and water and rising prices.
“Actually, the people of the country are not well. They really are not well. Is there electricity at this moment? No,” he said.
He alleged that electricity was available inside parliament and at the residences of the power minister while ordinary people were suffering from shortages.
Shafiqur said people wanted uninterrupted electricity, gas and water, as well as essential goods at affordable prices.
He also called for justice for the Shapla massacre, the killings of 57 army officers at Pilkhana, the killings carried out across the country over 15 years and the July killings.
“We have both said that if the referendum wins, if the ‘Yes’ wins, we will accept it and fully implement it. Has the current government implemented it? No,” he said, accusing the government of failing to honor its commitment to implement the referendum verdict.
Shafiqur said the alliance had taken to the streets not for any particular party or to make anyone a leader, but because it was hearing “the footsteps of fascism” again.
“The responsibility of the brave is that wherever the rights of the people are pulled away, they will roar there, resist there, protest there and build a protest there,” he said.
He also called for the release of a young man named Sifat, who was reportedly arrested after making comments expressing frustration over public suffering.
“Release him peacefully. If you do not, remember that incidents involving Nur Hossain, Yasmin and Dr Milon once changed the course of politics,” he said.
Other leaders
Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam said the long march represented the people and warned that the movement could intensify if the government tried to obstruct it.
“If the government creates obstacles to the long march, the six demands of the 11-party alliance will turn into one demand,” he said.
Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar accused the government of failing to reduce public suffering and breaking its promises on implementation of the referendum verdict.
“The government must admit its mistakes in parliament and take steps to reform the Constitution to implement the July Charter,” he said.
Liberal Democratic Party President Col (retd) Oli Ahmed also warned the government to respond to the people’s demands.
“If the demands of the people are not accepted, we will be forced to make the government accept them,” he said.
Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis Ameer Maulana Mamunul Haque said the government would face consequences if it failed to understand the message of the long march.
NCP President Nahid Islam accused the BNP of establishing “parliamentary autocracy” and alleged that corruption and syndicates had contributed to the country’s fuel crisis.
“If the referendum verdict is not implemented and the ongoing crises involving the country’s oil and gas are not resolved, you will not be able to remain in power,” he said at the Feni rally.
The roadside rally was chaired by Feni district Jamaat Ameer Mufti Abdul Hannan. AB Party’s Mujibur Rahman Manju and other central leaders of the 11 parties also spoke.
Route and future programs
After the opening rally in Dhaka, the procession moved toward Chittagong along the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.
The alliance planned roadside rallies at the truck stand area near Chittagong Road in Narayanganj, Paduar Bazar in Comilla, Chauddagram, Mahipal in Feni and Mirsharai in Chittagong before the final rally at Laldighi Maidan around 7pm.
The schedule could change depending on the situation, alliance leaders said.
The alliance had earlier said vehicles participating in the march would use one side of the highway, allowing regular traffic to continue on the other.
Leaders also held meetings with police officials to keep the program peaceful and organized and apologized in advance for possible public inconvenience caused by the march.
The Chittagong-bound march is the first in a planned series. The alliance plans similar programs toward Rangpur on September 19, Khulna on October 31 and Sylhet on November 21, followed by a larger program in Dhaka.
