BNP ends hunger strike three hours ahead of schedule on authorities’ ‘request’

BNP leaders and activists had to end their hunger strike for the jailed party chief’s freedom, three hours ahead of schedule on Wednesday.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 14 Feb 2018, 12:06 PM
Updated : 14 Feb 2018, 12:06 PM

The demonstration in Dhaka followed a human chain and sit-ins that started over a verdict that landed BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in jail for five years on Feb 8, in a graft case involving Zia Orphanage Trust.

Senior party leaders and thousands of supporters gathered on the key road in front of the National Press Club in the capital Dhaka.

Amid a huge police build up in the area, the hunger strike started at 10am. The BNP’s six-hour strike was scheduled to end at 4pm.

But it came to an end, just three hours after it started as the police officer pressed BNP leaders to wrap it up.

“The hunger strike was supposed to continue until 4pm, but we ended it at 1pm upon the authorities’ request,” Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, addressing the demonstration.

Flanked by thousands of supporters, senior party leaders, including Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, joined the hunger strike.

In his speech to the demonstration, Mirza Fakhrul Islam called on the government to stop oppressing opposition and said: “We demand the immediate release of Khaleda Zia.”

Leaders from the BNP’s allies in the 20-party coalition also attended the demonstration.