BNP allowed holding rally on 23 conditions

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) got permission from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on 23 conditions to hold a rally in the capital on Friday demanding the release of its chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail and her better treatment.

The rally will have to be held in front of BNP’s Naya Paltan central office in Dhaka between 3:00pm and 5:00pm, police said.

DMP’s Motijheel division deputy commissioner Shibli Noman told Prothom Alo that they have given permission to the BNP to hold the rally on conditions.

As per the conditions, the BNP has to limit the programme in front of the party office only and they cannot hold the rally blocking roads.

The order also said the party has to set up Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras and archways, and deploy a good number of volunteers with ID cards to maintain discipline and ensure security.

The condition also said this permission is not given for using space. The party has been asked to seek permission from the authorities concerned for using space, it added.

On Thursday, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said they have got a verbal permission from police to hold the rally in front of the party's Naya Paltan central office at 3:00pm on Friday.

Responding to a question about security of the rally, Shibli Noman said they have taken security measures as they usually take for rallies of political parties.

They [BNP] would end the rally peacefully, police hopes.

On 15 July, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced that their party will stage demonstrations across the country, including the capital, on Friday demanding the release of its chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail and her better treatment.

On 8 February 2018, a trial court sentenced Khaleda Zia to five years in jail in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case and sent her to jail. Since then, the former prime minister has been kept in the abandoned central jail at Nazimuddin Road in Old Dhaka.