The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance has again been denied permission to hold its rally in the capital.
The rally was originally scheduled for Monday, but the alliance deferred it to Wednesday as the administration did not give its consent for the agitation programme.
When contacted, Shamsuzzaman Dudu, an adviser to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, told The Daily Star that the alliance would decide its next course of action at a meeting Tuesday night.
Talking to The Daily Star, Sheikh Nazmul Haque, deputy police commissioner (Motijheel division), said that they did not give the consent for the rally on security grounds.
He said people are yet to forget the mayhem carried out by Hefajat-e Islam on May 5 in the city.
The police officer added that this time Jamaat-e-Islami, a key component in the opposition alliance, and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, might engage in violence again under the cover of the rally.
The opposition alliance last week called the rally protesting police crackdown early on May 6 to flush out Hefajat men from the Motijheel area of the city.
The alliance has been accusing the law enforcers of carrying out a “mass killing” during the drive, an allegation denied by the police and the government.
According to media reports, several people including lawmen were killed in the violence on May 5-6 in the capital and elsewhere.
The 18-party alliance has already enforced a two-day hartal on Wednesday and Thursday in protest against the crackdown.
Source: The Daily Star
