Khaleda Zia pushes back Natore rally to Nov 1 over Nizami verdict

Khaleda Zia has cancelled a public rally she was supposed to address in Natore on Thursday, a day after the war crimes verdict on Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 28 Oct 2014, 05:04 PM
Updated : 28 Oct 2014, 06:29 PM

The rally has been rescheduled to Nov 1, BNP's Assistant Office Secretary Shamimur Rahman Shamim told bdnews24.com.

The sudden change of plans was made on Tuesday night after the International Crimes Tribunal-1 earlier in the day set Wednesday for the verdict on the war crimes case against Nizami.

The Jamaat so far has called countrywide shutdowns on every verdict day for top party leaders charged with crimes against humanity. But they are yet to make any call for Wednesday.

Shamim, however, did not give any specific reason for pushing the rally back, only saying it was “due to unavoidable reasons”.

Natore's rally was being organised by the BNP-led 20-Party Alliance. Jamaat is a key component of the coalition.

The BNP chief is addressing rallies organised by the alliance as a part of the campaign to sway public opinion for a fresh parliamentary election under a non-partisan administration.

The parties are also protesting against what they say are murders, enforced disappearances and ‘misrule’ of the Awami League-led government.

Khaleda has already addressed two rallies in Jamalpur and Nilphamari.