BNP affiliates announce ‘long march’ towards Agartala to protest attack on mission

The Jubo Dal, the Swechchhasebak Dal and the Chhatra Dal announce a march from Dhaka to the Akhaura border area on Dec 11

Following their submission of a memorandum to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, three BNP affiliates – the Jubo Dal, the Swechchhasebak Dal and the Chhatra Dal – have announced a ‘long march’ programme from Dhaka to Agartala.

M Munayem Munna, president of the Jubo Dal, announced the programme at the BNP’s headquarters in Naya Paltan on Monday morning.

He said, "We are announcing a long march programme from Dhaka to the Akhaura border in the direction of Agartala on Wednesday, Dec 11, to protest against Indian aggression and its criminal fake information campaign against Bangladesh."

"We will gather at Naya Paltan at 8am on Dec 11 and, from there, we will start our peaceful long march and will go towards the Akhaura border in the direction of Agartala."

Calling on the leaders and activists of the three BNP affiliates, Munna said: "I am calling on Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal, and Swechchhasebak Dal leaders and activists from all walks of life in Bangladesh to participate in this long march."

On Sunday, the three organisations had held a protest march towards the Indian High Commission in Dhaka’s Baridhara. When police blocked the thousands of protesters near Rampura Bridge, the leaders of the three organisations, led by Munna, went to the embassy in Baridhara and submitted a memorandum.

Expressing gratitude to the media for their cooperation in this programme, the head of the Jubo Dal sought all-out cooperation in the upcoming long march programme on behalf of the three organisations.

He said, "Our three organisations held a protest march towards the Indian High Commission on Sunday and submitted a memorandum. We submitted a memorandum to the Indian High Commission demanding that the attack on the Bangladesh mission in India, the desecration of our national flag, the ongoing information terrorism against Bangladesh by the Indian media and their unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh be stopped."

Munna also condemned the Indian media’s ‘false propaganda’ campaign about the oppression of religious minorities in Bangladesh.

"After the fall of Sheikh Hasina, India has taken a stand against the people of Bangladesh by spreading propaganda of imaginary and baseless minority oppression. It has given Hasina an opportunity to embarrass the student-led government of Bangladesh on Indian soil. The arrest, investigation and trial of Bangladeshi citizen Chinmoy Krishna Das, the leader of the famous ISKCON, is completely an internal matter of Bangladesh, but India has created an atmosphere of chaos by making unwanted comments on Bangladesh's internal affairs from various levels."