BNP calls countrywide hartal today
Staff Reporter :
The main opposition party- BNP- has declared a countrywide dawn-to-dusk strike (hartal) for Sunday in protest against police action during the party’s Nayapaltan grand rally yesterday which left a number of BNP leaders and activists injured.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the announcement bringing an abrupt halt to the rally.
The rally was suspended at 2:15pm as police fired rubber bullets, flash grenades and lobbed tear gas shells, forcing the BNP leaders and activists to leave the rally venue.
Mirza Fakhrul said, “The Awami League government intentionally attacked our grand rally venue to foil our peaceful political programme.
We are announcing dawn to dusk nationwide strike on Sunday protesting this undemocratic and brutal attack on the BNP men.”
He asked the countrymen to observe the strike protesting the government’s ‘undemocratic’ attitude. The strike will be observed from 6:00am to 6:00pm.
At 3:00pm acute sound of flash grenade and smoke of tear shell came from Kakrail area where clash erupted between police, BNP and ruling Awami League activists.
And as a result, the party’s Nayapaltan grand rally venue was gripped with an unease situation.
Mirza Fakhrul asked the party men to stay calm to make the grand rally a success, but constant severe sound of flash grenade and smoke of tear shell overwhelm the venue.
Finally the leaders left the stage after BNP Secretary General announced the strike programme for Sunday.
Earlier, the party started the grand rally around 1pm.
As clashes around the capital – centring the AL and BNP rallies – began to intensify, BNP leaders paused their speeches during the programme at Nayapaltan amid continued firing of tear shells by the police.
The BNP leaders and activists also set fire to papers on the streets to minimize the severity of the tear shells.
Earlier in the day, a tense situation was prevailing in Dhaka’s Nayapaltan area amid huge presence of police, RAB and members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
Many BNP activists, as well as journalists from different media houses including Ittefaq and Kalbela, sustained injuries in a series of clashes with police which began earlier during the rally.
The BNP organised the rally to press home their one-point demand of resignation of the government and hold the next general elections under a non-partisan, neutral government.
On Saturday afternoon, Nayapaltan turned into a battlefield following a clash between BNP men and members of the law enforcement agencies centering the party’s scheduled grand rally.
Members of the law enforcement agencies used flash grenades and tear shells to disband BNP leaders and activists who retaliated with brickbats and stones.
The clash was going on in different areas in the capital city as of filing this report in the evening.
It was seen that after being chased by the police, the BNP men took position in different alleys and streets in Nayapaltan area and from there they were pelting brickbats, stones and other objects targeting the police.
Earlier, about 11:30am before starting the grand rally, a clash broke out between the leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League and BNP at the capital’s Kakrail Masjid Intersection.
BNP activists and police engaged in chase and counter-chase, with law enforcers firing tear gas shells across the area.
The clash led to the Kakrail police box and a car being set on fire in the area. After the incident, the clash spread to the nearby areas including the Nayapaltan grand rally venue gradually.
Additional Commissioner of Detective Branch (DB) Harun-or-Rashid said that some BNP activists attacked the police in front of the Judges’ Residence Complex in Kakrail area in the capital.
“Several policemen were injured. Furthermore, they carried out an attack, vandalised and set some vehicles on fire in front of IDB Bhaban at Kakrail,” he said.
Later, BGB members were deployed at the Kakrail Church crossing.
