The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday rescheduled its rally for November 13 and changed the venue to Suhrawardy Udyan from Nayapaltan.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press conference at the party central office around noon said, ‘We are rescheduling our today’s rally marking the November 7 national revolution and solidarity day for November 13 at the Suhrawardy Udyan, as we have not got police permission to hold the rally.’
He said that the party would submit a fresh application for permission to hold the rescheduled rally.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police, however, permitted BNP to hold a discussion at Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh in Dhaka at 2:00pm on Tuesday on 27 conditions.
BNP rejected it saying that the party was determined to hold the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on November 13.
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhuk Kabir Rizvi told New Age that the police informed the party nothing about the permission.
He said that they came to know the matter through media reports and they rejected the permission.
The party never sought permission to hold the discussion and it would hold the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on November 13, he asserted.
Fakhrul at a press conference on October 20 announce the programme to hold the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on November 7 to the mark the November 7, 1975 uprising as revolution and solidarity day.
Senior leaders of the ruling Awami League later warned that they would thwart any rally of BNP in Dhaka on November 7.
As the party got no permission to hold the scheduled rally, Rizvi at a press conference on November 5 rescheduled the rally for Tuesday at Nayapaltan.
Since the morning on Tuesday, a large contingent of police backed by armoured personnel carriers, water cannons, prison vans was deployed around the BNP central office at Nayapaltan, witnesses said.
The traffic and public movement were restricted from Nightingale crossing to Fakirapool crossing.
No activists, but only few central leaders of BNP, were allowed to enter the area.
Fakhrul at the press conference on Tuesday blasted the government for the ‘undemocratic behaviour.’
‘It is our democratic and constitutional right to assemble, but it seems a war-like situation has been created over our rally,’ he said.
Fakhrul said they would seek permission once again to hold rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on November 13, and if denied, the party would announce fresh programme.
‘We have no representation in the illegal and unelected parliament and we need to speak out at public places, but the government does not allow us to hold any rally,’ he said.
– See more at: http://www.newagebd.net/article/2401/bnp-reschedules-rally-for-nov-13-at-suhrawardy-udyan#sthash.UHRpiJq0.dpuf
Source: New Age
