BNP will not be allowed to hold protest rally on Jan 5, says Awami League’s Hanif

The ruling Awami League has declared that the BNP will not be allowed to stage demonstration on Jan 5, the third anniversary of the 10th parliamentary election.

The Awami League came to power for the second consecutive term in that election held on Jan 5, 2014. The BNP and its allies stayed out of the polls as their demand for a vote under a non-partisan caretaker government went unheeded.

“The people” will not allow BNP to hit the streets, Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-Ul Alam Hanif said on Friday.

“They will not be allowed to carry out any kind of political activity on streets on the day,” he said, announcing the party’s plan to observe what it calls “the day of the triumph of democracy.”

BNP chief Khaleda Zia called for a nonstop blockade after her party was barred from staging demonstrations on Jan 5 last year.

The blockade unleashed massive violence that led to the death of more than 150 people.

Unrest ensued when Khaleda was barred from leading demonstrations on the day in 2015, terming it “the murder of democracy day,” as opposed to the Awami League’s programme..

This year on Jan 5, she delivered a speech in front of her party headquarters in Naya Paltan while the ruling party carried out different activities at their headquarters at the Bangabandhu Avenue.

BNP Senior Joint General Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi recently announced that they will take out a march carrying black flags on Jan 5 and hold a public rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan a day later.

Referring to his call, Hanif remarked that BNP had made a “mistake” by boycotting the general elections in 2014.

“It is the BNP who tried to strangulate democracy. They have burnt hundreds of people, barred them from exercising their voting franchise, have set fire to polling centres,” he said at a meeting of the Awami League’s Dhaka (South) unit.

He slammed BNP leader Moudud Ahmed for his remark that “people of Bangladesh are passing a tumultuous time”.

“It is the BNP that is in shambles in terms of leadership and workers,” said Hanif.

He asked the opposition outside Parliament to get prepared for the upcoming polls, warning that “boycotting election will not yield any solution”.