The BNP, which stayed away from the 2014 general elections, plans to hold a rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan on Jan 5 as a mark of protest as the party termed it a ‘voters-less election.’
The party has applied to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police for permission, according to BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
“We have taken up a programme to hold a rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan on Jan 5. We have sent letters to police and relevant authorities,” Rizvi said at a function organised on the occasion of the 39th founding anniversary of Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha or JaSaS on Saturday in the capital.
“The people were deprived of their democratic rights on that day (Jan 5). We want to protest that on the day,” he added.
He urged the party workers to get prepared for the rally.
The Awami League came to power for the second consecutive term after the winning the Jan 5 election. The BNP and its allies boycotted the vote, paving the way for 153 Awami League MPs to win uncontested.
There was widespread violence for three months following the elections that left around 150 people dead.
On the first anniversary in 2015, police had to impose section 144 to stop the rival parties holding rallies at Suhrawardy Udyan with BNP calling it “democracy killing day” and AL termed it “a day of victory for democracy.”
Source: Bdnews24.