The BNP has held demonstrations in Dhaka and other places across the country to protest the hike in gas tariff.
A two-hour protest was held from 10am on Thursday at Dhaka’s Engineers Institute Premises. Several hundred BNP activists participated in the protest, holding placards protesting the gas price hike.
The demonstration ended around 12pm with a speech by the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Police and other law enforcement officers had been deployed to monitor the protest at Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Udyan and other protest areas.
On Feb 23 the Bangladesh Emergency Regulatory Commission (BERC) announced a two-tier hike in the price of gas. The first hike came into effect on Wednesday.
According to the BERC announcement, residents will have to pay Tk 750 a month for one stove and Tk 800 a month for two stoves starting from March. The previous prices were Tk 600 a month for one stove and Tk 650 a month for two stoves.
Though the BERC announced the second price hike would take effect on Jun 1 and raise the price of gas for one stove to Tk 900 a month and the cost of two stoves to Tk 950 a month, a court order has stayed the decision.
The CPB and the Democratic Left Alliance previously protested the price hike with a half-day demonstration last Tuesday.
