Govt instructs authorities to ensure ‘uninterrupted public life’ as BNP, AL gear up for Oct 28 rallies

The BNP demands the ouster of the government from power and a general election under a non-partisan caretaker system

The government has instructed authorities to ensure uninterrupted public life on Oct 28 amid fears of unrest over rallies called by the Awami League and BNP on that day.

Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain said the authorities were asked to maintain law and order.

The deputy commissioners were given the same instructions, he added after a meeting of the Cabinet Division headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday.

The BNP is organising a street protest on Oct 28 in its effort to oust the current government and call for a general election with a non-partisan government supervising it. The opposition party described it as the beginning of a decisive effort to remove the ruling party from power ahead of the national election expected in January.

Meanwhile, the Awami League also called for a separate street programme, naming it a “great journey” towards re-electing the ruling party.

The Awami League leaders reminded their BNP counterparts of the memories of Dec 10 last year when similar rallies spread political unrest.

Three days before those rallies, BNP leaders and supporters clashed with police in Naya Paltan before the gathering was finally held in Sayedabad’s Golapbagh field as fear gripped ordinary citizens, limiting their movement in the locality.