BNP on Thursday alleged that over 500 leaders and activists of the party were arrested in the capital in the last 24 hours ahead of its Friday's grand rally at Nayapaltan.
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the allegation at a press briefing at the party's Naya Paltan central office.
"In the last 24 hours, more than five hundred of our leaders and activists were arrested. I demand the unconditional release of all those arrested,” he said.
The BNP leader said the more the government obstructs and the more it arrests, the more resentment will be created among the BNP leaders and workers to make the rally more successful.
He alleged that the government is giving various provocations to create chaos and foil the rally by arresting our leaders and activists and raiding the hotels.
The BNP leader said those who came to Dhaka and stayed at different hotels to take part in the rally are revered persons and leaders of the party’s different district units.
“You’ve heard that the police raided the hotels near the party office last night and arrested many people. Is this a democratic behaviour and can it be a civilized behaviour?” he bemoaned.
The BNP leader alleged that the law enforcers are behaving like the fascist force of the government. “It seems that the government thinks that it is not enough to unleash its terrorist organizations. That's why they are letting loose the law enforcers.”
He said their grand rally will be held in front of the party's central office on Friday at 2 pm.
"All the preparations for our grand rally are going on. Our leaders are constantly monitoring the work that needs to be done to make the programme a success,” Rizvi said.
He said their party leaders and workers are ready to hold the rally peacefully. “They’ll join the rally spontaneously and return home in their respective areas after listening to the speeches of our leaders.”
Earlier on Wednesday night, BNP decided to defer its grand rally, scheduled for Thursday, to Friday. The party said it will hold the grand rally in Dhaka’s Nayapaltan area as it is unwilling to hold the programme at Golapbagh ground as suggested by the police authorities.
After a marathon meeting of the BNP standing committee members, party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir came up with the announcement at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office.
