BNP says it will enforce dawn-to-dusk hartal on Monday

The party seeks to strengthen its antigovernment protests with the 12th parliamentary polls approaching

The BNP has called a hartal, or shutdown, from dawn to dusk for Monday as the opposition party seeks to strengthen its antigovernment protests with the Jan 7 general election approaching.

The party announced the new programme following its Victory Day march on Saturday after a series of hartals and transport blockades for the past one and a half months.

It will enforce the hartal from 6am to 6pm to demand the replacement of the Awami League government with an election-time caretaker administration, Senior Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said at a virtual press briefing.

The opposition party will also demand the unconditional release of its Chairperson Khaleda Zia and protest against the arrests of its leaders and activists, including Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, he said.

“This hartal is for democracy, freedom of expression, and respectable life for all, not to be slaves.”