BNP is gearing up for holding its rally on Nov 12 and party chief Khaleda Zia will deliver speech there, Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said.
Published : 08 Nov 2017, 05:23 PM
The BNP says it has written to authorities for holding a rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan on Nov 12. Initially it had planned the rally for Nov 8, but rescheduled it due to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference.
The rally is meant to observe Nov 7, which the BNP observes every year as the ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’.
BNP-founder Ziaur Rahman became the army chief after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on Aug 15, 1975.
Within months, he was put under house arrest following a coup led by Maj Gen Khaled Mosharraf, who was a sector commander during the 1971 Liberation War.
However, Zia was freed within four days in a counter-coup led by another sector commander Col Abu Taher on Nov 7, 1975, and assumed power by declaring himself the chief martial law administrator, the first in the country’s history.
The ruling Awami League, however, describes it as the ‘Day of Massacre of Freedom Fighters’.
The party is yet to receive the green light from the authorities. However, Fakhrul said on Wednesday, “We hope to get the permission in time.”
“We could not observe the National Revolution and Solidarity Day in due manner because authorities denied us permission citing the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference,” he said at a press conference at Naya Paltan.
He sought cooperation from the government and said: “They (government) have always claimed that they believed in freedom of speech and democracy. They would not bar political parties from voicing out their opinions.”
“We expect to see their actions reflecting their words,” said the senior leader.