48hr hartal begins as BNP-Jamaat ask leaders to ensure presence on streets

A 48-hour hartal called by the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami to protest the announcement of the schedule for the 12th national elections will get underway at 6:00am today.

Two buses were set on fire in the capital's Gulistan and Agargaon areas in the evening today. A series of arson incidents occurred since the beginning of several phases of hartal and blockade programmes after the 28 October grand rallies of the BNP and Jamaat.

Party leaders and activists today brought out processions in various places in the country in support of the strike.

The BNP brought out a torch procession at Chowdhuripara in Dhaka's Malibagh today evening. Abdul Quader Bhuiyan Jewel, former Chhatra Dal president and BNP's assistant volunteer affairs secretary, led the procession.

In the aftermath of the polls' schedule announcement, the high commands of the BNP and Jamaat have instructed the leaders of their various units to remain on the streets, even if they have to brace the risks of being arrested, party sources told The Business Standard.

They said there were instructions for top- and middle-level leaders to avoid arrest until the announcement of the election schedule. But now, as the schedule has been announced, they have been given strict instructions to stay on the streets at any cost.

With the announcement of the schedule, the BNP has made many changes in its strategy. The message has been given to leaders at all levels that instead of the party's "short-term" movement, it should now be on the streets for a "long time." Along with the movement, the BNP has planned to keep its activists on the streets until the demands are met through movement as well as diplomatic pressure.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi today said the people of the country will resist one-sided elections with all their might, pointing to the heavy-handedness of law enforcers in dealing with opposition leaders and activists.

"People have taken to the streets for their rights in our movement. If the elections are not held under a caretaker government, the government will fall. Withdraw the polls' schedule you have announced; postpone elections and resign first. Otherwise, there will be no one-sided election in Bangladesh with this schedule. The people will resist with all their might," the BNP leader warned the government through a virtual press conference.

Rizvi accused police of taking money from party leaders and activists. "After arresting opposition party men, the police are taking Tk1 lakh, Tk50,000, Tk30,000 from some [of them]. If they can't pay, they are thrown in jail on false charges. The country's prisons are overflowing with powerful opposition leaders. This is a grave disaster," he alleged.

According to the opposition party, over 15,000 BNP-Jamaat leaders and activists have been arrested across the country since the 28 October grand rallies. In a span of 24 hours until Saturday 334 party activists were arrested, it said.

Some 17 leaders and activists, including a journalist, were reportedly killed during the period. 

Protest against DB chief's statement

Rizvi condemned and protested a statement of the DB chief, who said that BNP leaders who have been arrested have accepted responsibility for arson and vandalism.

In a press release issued today, Rizvi said that the statement of the DB chief about the confession of the top leaders of the BNP who were arrested in the 28 October "sabotage incident" published in the media on 8 November is completely false, fabricated and maliciously motivated.