Opposition calls nonstop protests until polls

The Opposition will stage non-stop sit-in demonstrations on roads, railways and waterways across Bangladesh until the Jan 5 general elections.

At a media conference on Sunday, M Hafizuddin Ahmed, a Vice-Chairman of the BNP that leads the 18-Party Opposition combine, said their 'Dhaka March' will continue on Monday**.

The announcement came hours after police obstructed Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia from going to BNP's Naya Paltan headquarters to attend a rally as part of the plans to thwart the elections.

Police arrested Hafizuddin immediately after the press briefing at the National Press Club in Dhaka. Earlier around noon, police had picked up Khaleda's advisor Enam Ahmed Chowdhury.

BNP chief Khaleda had called on her supporters to converge on the capital on Sunday after several spells of blockades and shutdowns rejecting the polls schedule announced late Nov 25. Over 100 people have reportedly died in the Opposition's countrywide violence since then.

Sunday's gathering was to press for the Prime Minister's resignation, cancellation of the election schedule, and a non-party government's supervision in parliamentary polls.

Hafizuddin on Saturday had announced his party's determination to go ahead with the planned agitation even though police refused them permission. He had said Khaleda would attend the demonstration.

However, police obstructed the Opposition Leader from leaving her Gulshan residence for Naya Paltan. She made no attempt to hide her anger at the law enforcers' move and told reporters that the Opposition's demonstration would continue.

Activists of the BNP and its affiliates were hardly seen on Dhaka streets due to heavy police presence. A clash at Malibagh between Jamaat-e-Islami supporters and the lawmen left one person killed.

Speaking at the media briefing, Hafizuddin said: "The rally at Naya Paltan that police foiled will be held at 10am (Monday).

"Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia will lead the demonstration."

He said 18-Party alliance activists will gather on the roads, railways and waterways until the Jan 5 elections are called off.

Asked how the 'sit-in' would be staged, Hafiz said: "It is not a new form of demonstration.

"We'll protest [against the government's move] taking position on the roads-railways-waterways like Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha," he said.

'Satyagraha' or nonviolent resistance was coined by Gandhi in the early 20th century. He put it in practice in India's movement for independence from the British rule and also during his earlier struggles in South Africa for the rights of the Indians living there.

The theory has influenced the likes of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr.

At a separate media call on Sunday, Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam rejected Hafizuddin's allegations of creating obstacles.

He claimed the Opposition's programme had no public support and accused Khaleda of "acting out a drama to go to Naya Paltan".

Hafizuddin branded the Awami League spokesperson's statement as "raving like a madman" and said Syed Ashraf's comment on Khaleda's attire was "distasteful".

"What drama did Syed Ashraf find here? They (the Awami League-led government) are attacking the Opposition Leader with obscene words as if it were their main duty.

“They should be ashamed of themselves and step down for despoiling democracy," he retorted.

The BNP leader claimed Bangladesh's image had been tarnished by keeping Khaleda 'confined'.

"Nearly 40 journalists had been injured in an attack by the Awami League henchmen at the National Press Club. Unprecedented attacks had also taken place at the Supreme Court premises," he said.

Hafizuddin claimed the government had "laid siege" to Dhaka "fearing" the 'March for Democracy'.

"No vehicles ran on the city streets because of the government's tactic," he alleged.

He invited the ruling party to test its popularity against the Opposition's by holding rallies without police and party goons.

The BNP leader criticised the Awami League for going ahead with the polls without the Opposition.

"The Awami League government has proven that it's not a democratic party. They had murdered democracy once in 1975 by forming the BAKSAL," he said referring to the one-party government formed by nation's founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after independence.

"This time, too, they are going to kill democracy by organising a one-sided voter-less election on Jan 5," he alleged.

"I challenge the government to hold polls under a non-party government and see how many seats they win."