20-party calls 72-hr nationwide hartal from 6am Sunday

Turning down the Education Minister’s request to call off their ongoing non-stop transport blockade for SSC examinations, the BNP-led 20-party alliance on Friday called a 72-hour nationwide hartal from 6am on Sunday as part of its movement for resorting democracy and people’s voting right. In a statement, BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, on behalf of the alliance, announced the shutdown programme. The hartal that will end at 6am on Wednesday is also meant for registering the 20-party’s protest against the ruling party leaders’ threat to ‘blow out’ the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office and arrest her, the Prime Minister’s instruction to police to suppress the movement by any means, hurling bombs and firing shots by government agents in front of senior BNP leaders houses and gun attacks on BNP chairperson’s adviser Reaz Rahman. The hartal will also be observed in addition to the ongoing blockade protesting the recent killing of 21 opposition men by law enforcers, arrest of over 15,000 20-party leaders and activists across the country, and filing of around 1.5 lakh ‘false’ cases against them, harassment of opposition men by joint forces’ drives and shifting the blame on the opposition after carrying out acts of sabotage by throwing petrol bombs at public transports by government agents. Earlier in the day, the party turned down Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid’s call to lift the blockade programme for smooth holding of the Secondary Scholl Certificate (SSC) exams, saying the ‘peaceful’ action programme will continue. In another statement, Rizvi said, “The peaceful blockade that we’ve waged with a firm resolve will continue. This blockade is meant for restoring peace in the country, ensuring security and due honour of people. He said no threat and the joint forces’ repressive acts will be able to stop the movement. On Thursday, Nahid urged the BNP-led 20-party alliance to withdraw their non-stop transport blockade programme by the next three days considering the examinees’ future as the SSC examination is scheduled to begin on Monday. “Only three days are left, I hope, they’ll withdraw the blockade by this time considering the students’ interest,” he told a press briefing at the Secretariat. The SSC and its equivalent examinations will begin simultaneously under the country’s 10 education boards, including one of madrasah and another technical board, on February 2 amid tensions and anxiety among the examinees and their guardians over the turbulent political situation. A total of 1,479, 266 students have registered their names under the 10 educational boards to appear in the examinations in 3,116 centres from 27,808 institutions across the country. Of the total students, 7, 63, 339 are boys and the 7, 15, 927 girls.– UNB, Dhaka.