Don't try to thwart 'peaceful' shutdown, BNP tells govt

Amid fears of violence, the BNP has promised the countrywide shutdown on Monday will be peaceful and asked the government to not obstruct the programme.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 21 Sept 2014, 07:48 PM
Updated : 21 Sept 2014, 07:48 PM

The BNP-led 20-Party Alliance has called the dawn-to-dusk general strike protesting against the 16th Amendment to the Constitution which has restored Parliament’s power to remove Supreme Court judges.

In a statement earlier on Sunday, BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that the government was detaining opposition activists to thwart the shutdown.

Later in the evening, Joint Secretary General Md Shahjahan at a press briefing warned the government against not trying to foil their peaceful strike.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will face the people's trial if there was any unrest during the strike, he said.

The BNP, which boycotted the last general election and is now out of Parliament, alleges the government wants to keep the judiciary under perpetual pressure through the latest constitutional amendment.

Shahjahan said their strike was to push for ‘establishing judiciary's freedom and good governance’, not to grab power.

Backing Fakhrul's earlier claim, he said at least 70 leaders and activists of the BNP were arrested ahead of the shutdown.

Monday's strike will be the BNP's first one after it boycotted the Jan 5 polls and the Awami League came to power for a second consecutive term.

However, its ally Jamaat-e-Islami has already enforced two days of shutdown on Thursday and Sunday protesting against the appeal verdict against its top leader and war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee which in fact reduced his death sentence to 'imprisonment until death'.