May 2 strike shelved at PM’s plea: Khaleda

The BNP-led 18-Party Alliance has postponed the nationwide general strike it had called for May 2 in demand of arrest of owners of the now-collapsed Rana Plaza and the five garment factories it housed.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s announcement postponing the strike came through a statement on Tuesday, two days ahead of the planned strike.

“The 18-Party Alliance is calling off its dawn-to-dusk general strike in response to the Prime Minister’s request, for the sake of humanity and to allow people to unite and stand next to the victims of the tragedy,” her statement said.

Sheikh Hasina during her visit to Savar on Monday had requested the main opposition to call off its strike to allow the rescue work to continue smoothly.

The owner of the ill-built Rana Plaza has already been arrested, apart from the owners of the garment factories, who had dismissed warnings from authorities and forced workers into the hazardous building on the fateful day.

The Communist Party of Bangladesh had also called a strike for Thursday, May 2, but withdrew its plan after the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami also declared a strike for the same day.

So far, close to 400 bodies have been recovered from the collapse site and over 2,000 rescued alive.

Two dead bodies were recovered on the seventh day of the ongoing rescue operation on Tuesday. The rescue workers will continue with their work for some more time, according to authorities.

The leaders of the ruling Awami League had criticised plans to stage a shutdown amidst this crisis.

In her statement, apart from offering the explanation for postponing the May 2 strike, Khaleda also criticised the government’s initiatives in the Savar rescue operation.

“Our party followers have assisted the rescue work and the treatment of survivors in a big way. Although the government announced ‘National Mourning’, they did not observe it themselves. The parliament’s assembly was not postponed.”

“The Prime Minister continued with her regular government duties and inaugurated new trains. The new President was also sworn in on the day of the devastating collapse.”

Khaleda also criticised what she termed the Prime Minister’s ‘derogatory comments’ on the opposition and said, “We will not follow her (in making comments).”