Khaleda says blockade not ‘in force’, formal decision yet to be made

Khaleda Zia has said a countrywide transport blockade she had called is no longer ‘in force’, ending confusion over the 20-Party agitation.

“It was a 20-Party programme. So it is up to them to call off the programme. But due to the election and arrests, we were unable to sit together,” the BNP chairperson said on Sunday.

“So a decision could not be taken about the programme. The agitation, as you all know, is not in force,” the chief of the BNP-led coalition said.

Khaleda had launched the agitation from her office on Jan 5 after being barred from joining a 20-Party programme on the anniversary of the 10th general election, which it had boycotted.

The indefinite blockade was accompanied by sporadic shutdowns, which were made a regular weekday feature from February, when the Secondary School Certificate examinations began.

Khaleda also did not pay heed to numerous calls to avoid shutdowns during the exams and the Biswa Ijtema, the second largest annual congregation of the Muslims.

Meanwhile, her younger son, Arafat Rahman Coco, died in Malaysia and his body was flown to Dhaka for burial. She bade him farewell from her office refusing to step out.

The three-time prime minister also refused to pay customary tributes to language martyrs on International Mothers Language Day and martyrs on the Independence Day, drawing flak from people of all walks of life.

Confusion prevailed since she left her office for home after 92 days by securing bail in two corruption cases. The court had issued an arrest warrant for her for having skipped consecutive hearings.

The programmes were being called through statements from unidentified locations under the names of various BNP leaders, who were in hiding.

The first change in the announcements was noticed on Mar 26 which the statement did not mention the then regular weekday shutdowns.

Later, another statement said Dhaka and Chittagong were being kept outside the programmes due to the city polls.

However, there were no clarifications on whether the blockade call still held good. No BNP leaders were forthcoming on the matter.