Country tense

Ban on rally in Ctg; scores arrested

Country tense

Law enforcers check a man’s bag on the street in Naya Paltan in the capital yesterday. Centring on the opposition rally tomorrow, security measures have been beefed up in Dhaka.

Tension runs high in the capital and elsewhere in the country over a possible face-off between the ruling Awami League and the BNP, as both the parties have announced holding rallies tomorrow in four cities, including Dhaka, at the same venue.
Following in the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s footsteps, the Chittagong Metropolitan Police yesterday slapped an indefinite ban on political meetings, rallies and demonstrations in the port city from 6:00am today. The DMP had imposed a similar ban in the capital on October 19.
Terming the ban “unconstitutional” and “undemocratic”, acting BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged the government to lift the ban. He vowed to hold the rally in the capital even if the ban was in place.
Speaking at a rally in the port city yesterday, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, president of Chittagong city BNP unit, threatened to defy the CMP’s ban and hold the party’s    announced rally at Laldighi Maidan tomorrow.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is expected to address a rally of Shikkhak Karmachari Oikya Jote, a platform for pro-BNP teachers, at the Jatiya Press Club today. The rally was supposed to be held at Suhrawardy Udyan, but the venue was changed following the DMP’s ban, said BNP sources.
Following a meeting yesterday afternoon, the CMP imposed the indefinite ban from today in the wake of growing tension over the two rival parties’ announcement of holding rallies at the same venue of Laldighi Maidan in the port city.
CMP Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam said they made the decision    following concern over the safety         of people and deterioration in law and order.
Meanwhile, a tense situation prevails in Sylhet and Barisal, as both the AL    and BNP have announced holding rallies at the same venue of Court Point tomorrow.
The BNP has already completed its preparations to make the programme a success, said the party’s Sylhet unit President MA Haque.
In Barisal, the police have decided not to allow the BNP or the AL to hold any rally in front of Ashwini Kumar Hall in the city at 10:00am tomorrow.
“We will not allow any side to hold rally at same venue on Friday, and will take necessary action to maintain law and order in the city,” said Barisal Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Shamsuddin.
ARRESTS RISE
The main opposition BNP has alleged that their leaders and activists are being arrested in the capital and other parts of the country ahead of its announced rallies tomorrow.
According to police headquarters statistics, more than 6,000 people have been arrested across the country in the last three days. But it could not be confirmed how many of them are political arrestees.
Of them, 264 people were detained by the DMP alone. The number of arrestees was more than 150 between October 16 and 20.

Source: The Daily Star