BNP announces divisional road march prog Feb 18

Staff Reporter :
As part of the ongoing anti-government movement, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has announced a new road march programme in all the divisional cities across the country on February 18.
With the announcement of the new programme, BNP has strongly criticised the ruling party Awami League for holding a counter programme coinciding with them, saying that such counter-programme proves the government’s helplessness and an attempt to create chaos.
Before launching a road march programme in the city’s Shyamoli area under Dhaka North City Unit, BNP Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain announced the new programme.
“As part of our fresh programme, BNP and
other political parties which are holding simultaneous programmes, will hold the road march programme on February 18,” he said. However, two separate road march programmes will be held in Dhaka Mahanagar Uttar and Dhaka Mahanagar Dakhin on the same day, he said.
“Let us prepare ourselves for greater movement in the coming days through such road march programmes,” said the senior leader.
“You have seen what happened in Sri Lanka. We want to tell the government your days are numbered. If you (government) try to cling to power by force like Sri Lanka, people will not spare and pardon you,” he stressed.
Addressing the gatherings, he said that BNP and other like-minded political parties are carrying out movement with charter of 10-point demand including restoration of democracy, unconditional release of Khaleda Zia, resignation of the government, dissolution of parliament and formation of a non-partisan caretaker government to hold a free and fair election. Later, the road march led by Mosharraf Hossain along with other leaders like Abdul Awam Mintoo, Abdus Salam, Joynal Abedin Faruque and Habibur Rahman Habib was started from Shyamoli Ring Road and ended at Bosila Satrasta intersection.
Thousands of BNP leaders and activists joined the road march, carrying banners, festoons, national and party flags and portraits of the party’s top leaders.
Earlier BNP announced two road marches in Dhaka on February 9 and 12 to press home their 10-point demands, but the party postponed its February 9 road-march programme in the capital, considering the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
On the same day, Awami League had also programme ‘peace rally’ in the capital. They also postponed their programme on the same ground of earthquakes. Earlier, on February 11, BNP also observed a march programme in all unions across the country amid the allegations of attacks and obstruction by the ruling party men and law enforcers.