No BNP support for Jamaat hartal: Rizvi

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Wednesday said it did not support Thursday's hartal called by its key ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami protesting at the arrest of its top leaders, including ameer Maqbul Ahmad, reports UNB.

Speaking at a press conference at the party's Naya Paltan headquarters on Wednesday afternoon, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said their party has no decision to support the hartal.

Replying to a question whether their party has any support for Jamaat's hartal, the BNP leader said, "Our party secretary general issued a statement demanding the release of those arrested. Our party's programme is limited to it in this regard, and we've nothing else."

As journalists pressed him to give a clear answerer whether they support the hartal or not, Rizvi said he did not get any direction from the party high-command about it.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Tuesday called the countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal for Thursday to register its protest against the arrest and remand of its top leadership, including ameer Maqbul Ahmad.

Earlier on Monday night, detectives arrested Jamaat ameer Maqbul Ahmad, its secretary general Shafiqur Rahman, nayeb-e-ameer Mia Golam Parwar, also a former MP from Khulna-5 constituency, and six other party leaders from city's Uttara area.

A team of Detective Branch of police arrested them from a house at Road-3 of Sector-11 while they were allegedly holding a clandestine meeting.