The BNP-led 18-party alliance is set to enforce a countrywide non-stop road-rail-waterway blockade on Wednesday, the first day of the New Year (2014), in a bid to thwart the January-5 10th parliamentary elections.
BNP chairperson’s adviser Khandaker Mahbub Hossain announced the programme at a press conference at his Bashundhara residence in the capital on Tuesday.
The opposition’s announcement of the fresh blockade programme came following the government’s strong resistance to foil its March for Democracy Programme towards Dhaka on Sunday and Monday.
Mahbub said the blockade would continue until further announcement.
The opposition alliance has been on nonstop agitation programmes since the Election Commission announced the election schedule on November 25 fixing the balloting date for January 5.
They want the government to cancel the election schedule and hold the 10th parliamentary polls with the participation of all parties under a non-party administration.
The 18-party has already enforced countrywide road-rail-waterway blockade for 22 days (501 hours) since November 26 in five spells –71-hour, 131-hour, 144-hour and 72-hour and 83-hour ones — after the announcement of the election schedule that left at least 120 people dead.
The last spell of blockade was of 83 hours from December 6am 21 to December 24 5pm.
To bring change in the opposition’s line of action after the fifth consecutive spells of blockade, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia at a press conference on December 24 announced the ‘March for Democracy’ programme and urged people from all walks of life to march towards Dhaka carrying the national flag on Sunday to press home their demand for having the election under a non-party neutral administration.
But the 18-party alliance on Sunday could not stage its ‘March for Democracy’ programme in the city due to strong resistance by law enforcers and ruling party activists.
Having failed hold the scheduled programme, the opposition announced to stage it on Monday, but again failed as the law enforcers and ruling party activists took positions at different strategic points, intersections and on different roads since early morning, preventing the opposition leaders and activists from converging on any point of the city.
Source: UNB Connect