BNP, allies set to start third week of blockades Sunday

The BNP and like-minded opposition parties are set to enforce another spell of nationwide blockade of road, rail and waterways for 48 hours from Sunday morning, to mount pressure on the Awami League regime to quit and pave the way for the next election under a non-party neutral administration.

The blockade will begin at 6am on Sunday and end at 6am on Tuesday across the country.

Giving a pause for two days, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and other opposition parties, who have long been carrying out the simultaneous movement with BNP, will also enforce the blockade simultaneously.

At a virtual press briefing, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Saturday called upon the country’s people and the BNP supporters to observe the programme spontaneously to make it successful.

Vehicles of the newspapers or media, ambulances and vehicles transporting oxygen cylinders and medicines will remain out of the purview of the three-day blockade.

Earlier, the party enforced two rounds of 48-hour nationwide blockade from November 5-9 with a break on November 7 and a three-day countrywide blockade from October 31 to November and programmes were marked by widespread incidents of clashes, violence and torching of several dozens of vehicles.

They also observed a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal on October 29 in protest against the attacks on BNP’s grand rally at Naya Paltan that ended amid the incidents of torching vehicles and clashes, leaving three people dead.

According to BNP, their party’s 11 leaders and workers were killed and around 3,906 others were injured in clashes with police and the ruling party leaders and activists since October 28.

Besides, a police constable, a journalist and ruling party activists were also killed in clashes during the period.

Half an hour into the start of BNP's much-talked-about grand rally at Naya Paltan on October 28, BNP leaders and workers locked in a clash with the ruling party activists and police at Kakrail. Soon violent clashes spread around Naya Paltan, foiling the rally midway.