On the day Awami League is scheduled to hold a rally to mark Bangabandhu’s Homecoming Day, the BNP-led 20-party alliance has called a hartal for today in the capital’s adjacent districts, while the party’s student wing Chhatra Dal has also called hartal for 14 districts including Dhaka.
However, the Dhaka city would remain out of the hartal purview.
Although there were uncertainties on whether the ruling party would be able to stage its rally amid DMP’s indefinite restriction against any public gathering, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday said the bar would be lifted today.
If the Awami League decides to go ahead with its plan to stage its scheduled rally, it might run into some troubles in mobilising its activists as the 20-party alliance’s countrywide rail, road and waterways blockade also continues along with today’s hartal.
BNP sources said directives have been sent to district leaders to disconnect Dhaka from the rest of country. Party insiders added that although the blockade was unofficially relaxed yesterday because of the Biswa Ijtema, a fresh hartal has been called in the Dhaka-adjacent districts to disrupt the Awami League’s rally preparations.
However, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, joint secretary general of the party, said: “As a democratic party, the BNP’s district units and Chhatra Dal called the hartal. Who is holding rally is not our concern.”
The Awami League is scheduled to hold a rally in the city today to mark the 43rd anniversary of the Homecoming Day of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Instructions for a new hartal was reportedly sent to district and Chhatra Dal leaders on Saturday night.
A press release, signed by the Dhaka district BNP president and general secretary, said the day-long hartal would be staged in the district’s five upazilas: Dohar, Nawabganj, Dhamrai, Keraniganj and Savar.
The hartal was called in protest of party chief Khaleda Zia’s confinement at her Gulshan office and to also protest the countrywide killing and arrest of party activists. The Dhaka district BNP called the hartal in favour of the 20-party Dhaka district unit, the release also read.
Separately, local units of the 20-party alliance in Manikganj, Narayanganj, Bogra and Gazipur also called day-long hartals for today on the same issue.
Chhatra Dal’s hartal
Chhatra Dal, student wing of the BNP, has also called a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Dhaka district and its adjacent 13 other districts for Monday protesting the confinement of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia and demanding release of the detained top leaders of the party.
When contacted, Abdus Sattar Patwary, Chhatra Dal’s office secretary, told the Dhaka Tribune that the hartal will begin at 6am and end at 5:30pm on Monday. He also added that the Dhaka metropolitan area would remain out of the purview of the shutdown.
The announcement of hartal came through a press release where the Chhatra Dal president and general secretary asked the party leaders and activists to make the hartal successful.
The hartal enforced districts are: Narsingdi, Narayanganj district and metropolitan, Gazipur, Tangail, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Comilla, Brahmanbaria, Kishoreganj, Mymensingh, Sherpur, Jamalpur and Netrokona.
Trucks reappear
The drama surrounding security measures around Khaleda’s Gulshan office continued yesterday, as seven trucks appeared in the morning on the office-adjacent roads, only to be removed again later in the afternoon.
The trucks – carrying sand, cement and wood – were parked at the site around 12:35pm, but were driven off the site later in the day. The main gate of the office, however, stayed unlocked throughout; although police permission was needed to enter the office – where Khaleda has been virtually confined since January 3.
Vehicle movement around road 86 of Gulshan, where Khaleda’s office is located, was regulated by the police; local residents were allowed to cross the street – where check posts were set up yesterday.
Riot police units were deployed along with the regular police force and they formed a human barrier on both sides of the main entrance of the office.
Amid the tightened security, BNP Standing Committee Members Mahbubur Rahman, Jamiruddin Sircar, Rafiqul Islam Miah and some other leaders went to visit Khaleda at her office today, the first time any standing committee leader was allowed to enter the Gulshan office since Khaleda’s “confined” state began on January 3.
After meeting with the party chief, Rafiqul came outside to tell journalists said the “peaceful” blockade would go on until the party’s demands were met. Snubbing out recent media reports on Khaleda’s conversation with India’s Bharatiya Janata Party president, he also claimed that the “confined” Khaleda had indeed spoke with BJP President Amit Shah.
