BNP calls fresh blockade for 24 Dec

BNP has announced a fresh dawn-to-dusk blockade for Sunday (24 December). The party announced the programme on Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier, BNP has announced noncooperation movement across the country in a bid to halt the 12th parliamentary election scheduled for January 7.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came up with the announcement in a virtual press conference on Wednesday.

BNP will be conducting the programmes to press their demands for holding polls under a non-party caretaker government, and to dissuade people from voting in the January 7 election.

During the press conference, Rizvi urged the countrymen and the public administration to refrain from cooperating with the government from now on (Wednesday).

“The ruling Awami League is moving towards holding a dummy election on January 7,” Rizvi said, urging people from all walks of life to oppose and halt the election.

He also called upon his party members to abstain from appearing before the court. Simultaneously, he encouraged the countrymen to refrain from paying taxes and utility service bills.

In addition, he appealed to the staff and officials involved in the electoral process to abstain from performing their duties.

“Don’t take part in a game in the name of election. Don’t go to the polling centres as who will be members of the parliament has already been finalised,” he said.

The government has allegedly misappropriated a substantial amount of money from the country’s banking sector and thus, the countrymen should consider the safety of depositing money in banks, Rizvi said.

BNP enforced nationwide hartal on Tuesday to meet its demand to topple the Hasina-led government.  

On October 28, BNP organised a large rally in front of its central party office in Dhaka, but the event was disrupted. Subsequently, BNP declared a nationwide hartal on October 29.

Since then, the party has been enforcing anti-government programmes like blockade and hartal for one or two days gap to meet its demand. Some like-minded political parties are also engaged in enforcing similar programmes on the same ground.