2 parties to hold 3 rallies in Dhaka today

The two major political parties of the country will hold separate rallies in different areas of Dhaka on Tuesday, marking the second anniversary of the 5 January elections.

Awami League will arrange two rallies, one at Bangabandu Avenue around 2:30pm and another at Russell Square in Dhanmondi road 32.

BNP on the other hand will hold a programme in front of its Naya Paltan central office around 2:00pm.

Major traffic jams and public suffering is expected due to the three rallies of the two parties as all of the rallies will take place on the busy roads of Dhaka. The public suffered also in the capital on Monday due to the founding anniversary of Bangladesh Chhatra League.

Other than the programmes of the two parties, HM Ershad’s Jatiya Party will hold a ‘peace procession for democracy’ in Dholaipar area of the city around 11:30am.

BNP’s alliance member Jamaat-e-Islami urged all of its units to observe the day by processions, rallies, and discussions. However, the party did not mention any time or place.

Both AL and BNP initially announced their respective rallies at Suhrawady Udyan.

Pleas of both the parties were turned down. Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayor Sayeed Khokon in a press conference announced AL and BNP would be allowed to hold their respective rallies at Bangabandhu Avenue and Nayapaltan respectively.

Earlier, AL also announced rallies at 18 spots in the capital, but later said will hold two rallies at Bangabandhu Avenue and Russell Square. AL joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif on Monday told Prothom Alo that rallies at 18 places would have created a traffic jam. That is why the programme has been reduced to two places in consideration of the public. Other than that, AL will also hold rallies and meetings in all the cities, districts and upazilas of the country.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is expected to attend the rally. She also had a meeting with her party’s senior leaders on Monday night to discuss the preparations for the 5 January rally. The party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir earlier on the day also had a joint meeting with the leaders of the party and concerned organisations to discuss the preparations for the party’s 5 January rally.  

The senior AL leaders along with general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam will be divided into the two the party rallies. Dhaka city AL also had a meeting over the preparation of the programme.

Since last year, Awami League showcases 5 January as 'Democracy Saving Day', while BNP observes the day as 'Democracy Killing Day'.

DMP in a press release said it permitted BNP to hold their rallies on some conditions. Among the conditions, DMP said BNP should be allowed to hold their programme within the area designated by police and could not be crossed, the loudspeakers could not be used beyond the assigned area, no road blockade is allowed, no procession is allowed, and the rally must end by 5:00pm.

There was nothing said about the AL rallies in the DMP press conference. Talking with DMP deputy commissioner (public relations) Maruf Hasan Sardar on Monday night, who said they were not informed about any restrictions on AL rallies. But later he called over phone and said the same restrictions will be also applied on AL rallies.

BNP’s press conference: BNP’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in Monday’s press conference alleged that some persons and political leaders of the ruling party were trying to heat up the political arena unnecessarily following the BNP’s rally.

“We would like to clearly say that the 5 January rally will be held peacefully as we don’t do politics of conflict and we won’t go for any conflicting programme. We hope that government will make an effort to restore democracy in the country and cooperate with us in ensuring the basic rights of arranging the rally,” he said.