Government orchestrated shutdown of public transport to block rally, says BNP

The BNP claims the government has orchestrated a shutdown of bus services in an effort to block supporters and activists from joining its rally to hear an address by Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the claim at the Suhrawardy Udyan premises on Sunday.

“The government has organised a pre-planned closure of public transport in order to prevent leaders, activists, supporters and the people from gathering at the rally,” he told the media. “Even long-haul buses have not been able to come to Dhaka. It's the same for trains as well.”

“But the government will not be able to hold back thetide. We have heard news that leaders and activists are walking on foot, or riding push carts to join the rally.”

The rally scheduled to start at 2pm is to be the first major speech made by former prime minister Khaleda Zia in Dhaka in nearly a year and a half.

BNP activists from Dhaka city’s various wards, Savar, Gazipur and Narayanganj were to gather for the rally.

Though bus services proceeded according to schedule on Sunday morning, it soon dropped off as the day wore on.

Asked about the situation, transport workers say BNP activists seized the buses. Others say many decided not to run buses to avoid the BNP’s attempts to grab the vehicles.

“Though traffic from Dhaka is uninterrupted, no vehicles are being allowed to travel to Dhaka,” said BNP's Gazipur district unit President Fazlul Haque.

Gazipur traffic police's ASP Saleh Uddin Ahmed told bdnews24.com that no vehicles are being prevented from travelling to Dhaka.

“The transport workers themselves have halted traffic,” he said. The senior police official would not comment on why this had occurred.

Bus services have been halted on the ‘orders’ of the transport owners’ union, said Kamrul Hasan Ripon, a director for Dhaka-Gazipur route's VIP Transport.

The transport owners’ union has not responded to the claim.