BNP to enforce blockade Wednesday, hartal Thursday

The BNP is going to enforce a 24-hour fresh road-rail-waterway blockade across the country starting from Wednesday morning and a daylong hartal on Thursday to protest the schedule for the next national election announced by the Election Commission (EC).

Party Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came up with the announcement at a virtual press briefing on Monday.

He said the blockade will begin at 6am on Wednesday and end at 6m on Thursday while the hartal will be enforced from 6am to 6pm on Thursday.

Rizvi said the programmes are also meant for mounting pressure on the government to quit, hold the next election under a non-party neutral government and release party leaders and activists, including its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

He said other opposition parties, who have long been carrying out the simultaneous movement with BNP, will also observe similar programmes.

The fresh programmes were announced 14 hours before the end of the opposition’s ongoing 48-hour blockade which will end at 6m on Tuesday.

Rizvi thanked the country’s people and the opposition leaders and activists for making their blockade programme a success.

BNP and like-minded parties enforced a 48-hour countrywide shutdown from November 19 and then announced a 48-hour blockade from November 22 and another phase of a 48-hour blockade from November 26 which will end at 6m on Tuesday.

The opposition parties have so far observed blockades in seven phases to mount pressure on the Awami League government to quit power and hold the next election under a non-partisan administration.

They also observed a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal on October 29 in protest against the attacks on BNP’s grand rally at Nayapaltan that ended amid the incidents of torching vehicles and clashes, leaving three people dead.

Half an hour into the start of BNP‍‍`s much-talked-about grand rally at Nayapaltan on October 28, BNP leaders and workers locked in a clash with the ruling party activists and police at Kakrail. The violent clashes soon spread around Nayapaltan, foiling the rally midway.