Jatiya Oikya Front poised for key rally in Dhaka

The Jatiya Oikya Front, a new opposition alliance, is expected to pull in a huge crowd to its afternoon rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The alliance will announce a fresh programme to press home its election-time demands, including the resignation of the government, dissolution of parliament and reforms to the Election Commission.

It is the first public meeting of the Jatiya Oikya Front in Dhaka, which came after its previous rallies in Sylhet and Chittagong.

"Our programme will be in line with our seven demands in order to restore democracy,” BNP leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told bdnews24.com about the future programme. 

“The government must accept our demands to make the next election participatory,” he said,

The BNP’s key demand is the release of Khaleda Zia and other “political prisoners” from jail. 

Dr Kamal Hossain, leader of the alliance, will attend the rally as the chief guest. Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President ASM Abdur Rab is scheduled to join the event as the chief speaker.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will preside over the public meeting starting at 2pm.

Organisers have completed all preparations for the public gathering. The venue has been decorated with the portraits of Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman. There are also photos of the late President Ziaur Rahman.

A large number of law enforcers were deployed around the Suhrawardy Udyan.