BNP chief Khaleda Zia on road to Cox’s Bazar to visit Rohingyas

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has left Dhaka for a four-day trip to Cox’s Bazar to see the Rohingya refugee camps.

The convoy led by the BNP chief to Chittagong left her home in Gulshan at 10:45am on Saturday.

The convoy is accompanied by senior BNP leaders, including party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu. Women’s Affairs Secretary Noor-e Ara Safa is travelling with Khaleda in the same vehicle.

According to the itinerary, the convoy will stop at the Feni circuit house for lunch before resuming its journey to Chittagong.

The BNP chief will set off for Cox’s Bazar around 11am on Sunday after spending the night at the Chittagong Circuit House. She will travel to the refugee camps at Ukhiy’as Balukhali, Bowalmara and Jamtali to distribute aid on Monday after staying overnight at the Cox’s Bazar Circuit House.

“Soon after she returned from medical treatment abroad, the nation’s most popular leader, Begum Khaleda Zia, decided to make this journey,” Mirza Fakhrul told the media prior to setting off from Gulshan.

“It has given hope to BNP activists that the nation’s leader will stand beside the Rohingyas because of her compassion and humanity."

Fakhrul said he hoped for the government’s cooperation in this regard.

“We hope to have the government’s complete cooperation in this regard. The inspector general of police has assured us that the security of the nation’s leader will be ensured and the trip will proceed smoothly.”

>>BNP activists in over 50 cars travelled with Khaleda in her convoy. They were accompanied by media representatives in a few dozen cars.

>>The convoy will travel through Gulshan, Farmgate, Paltan, Motijheel to the Jatrabari flyover, Kanchpur and then Gojaria, Daudkandi, Comilla’s Chandina, Feni’s Mohipa, Mirsharai, Sitakunda and then Chittagong

>>A few thousand BNP activists met the convoy as it neared the BNP offices in Paltan

BNP district leaders have been instructed to greet the convoy with activists lining either side of the road, the BNP secretary general told the media.

“Our activists will see their leader in front of them for the first time in a long while. We have instructed them to ensure there is no trouble. They will greet and pay respects while standing on the side of the road.”

The BNP plans to distribute aid to 10,000 Rohingya families, said Fakhrul. The amount of the relief was not specified.

A BNP delegation carrying 22 trucks of aid for refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine to Cox’s Bazar was barred from doing so in mid-September.

The ruling Awami League had justified the situation saying that a decision had not been taken on whether to distribute aid through the district administration, according to the ‘rules’.

After her trip to the camps, Khaleda will spend Monday night at the Chittagong Circuit House and set off the next day for Dhaka.

She had also visited Cox’s Bazar in 2012 after the attack and vandalism of the Ramu Buddhist temple in Cox’s Bazar.