The nationwide hartal will end at 6pm
The BNP-led 20-party alliance has extended its ongoing 72-hour nationwide hartal till 6pm on Thursday.
BNP Joint Secretary Salahuddin Ahmed made the announcement in a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon.
On Sunday evening, the BNP leader threatened to continue the ongoing 72-hour hartal and nonstop blockade for an indefinite period if telephone, internet and cable services’ connection is not restored to party Chief Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office in Dhaka.
Protesting the disconnection of the utility services, BNP called a 72-hour strike starting at 6am Sunday and to continue 6am on Wednesday, despite nationwide secondary school certificate (SSC) examinations in which about 1.5 million students are taking part.
The authorities disconnected the power supply and snapped all kinds of voice and data connections to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan political office early Saturday where Khaleda is staying since January 3.
Eighteen hours after disconnecting power supply, the authorities restored electricity to Khaleda’s office around 10:30pm on Saturday.
However, all kinds of voice and data connections to the office remained snapped until filing of this report around 4pm on Tuesday.
The blockade, which enters day 29 on Tuesday, and the associated unrest have so far left at least 50 people dead, hundreds sustained burn injuries and nearly a thousand vehicles firebombed or damaged.
After the arrest of BNP’s Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, another Joint Secretary Salahuddin Ahmed came into the scene.
He is announcing the party’s political programmes issuing the press releases from hideout.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
