BNP announces 36-hour transport blockade from Tuesday

The party will continue its campaign to oust the ruling party from 6 am on Tuesday

The BNP has announced that it will enforce a 36-hour nationwide transport blockade from Tuesday as part of its ongoing antigovernment campaign.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the announcement via a virtual meeting on Sunday.

The blockade will be in place from 6 am on Tuesday to 6 pm on Wednesday, the BNP leader said.

The BNP has been staging a series of political programmes after a rally in Dhaka on Oct 28 broke out in violence. The opposition called a hartal the following day. Many of the party’s leaders were arrested following clashes with the police and the rest went into hiding.

Rizvi has been announcing the party’s subsequent programmes by virtual meeting since then. So far, the party has organised transport blockades on 18 days and hartals on four others.

Sunday’s announcement marked the BNP’s 11th round of blockades since Oct 28.

The intensity of these programmes has slowly diminished over time. Few party leaders and activists can be seen on the streets. Though party leaders have called on activists to demonstrate their bravery, there has been little overt action.

With the effect of blockade and hartal programmes waning, the streets of Dhaka are witnessing more traffic, with logjams occurring in different parts of the capital as well.

However, the BNP aims to continue protesting to demand the resignation of the government and the installation of a caretaker government even as the Election Commission prepares to hold the election on Jan 7.