BNP eyes two new strategies
BNP has worked out two new strategies before launching street agitation to free party chairperson Khaleda Zia who has been convicted in corruption cases, BNP leaders have said.
The leaders said they will no longer await police permission for their public gatherings. However, they will simply inform the concerned authorities about the matter.
Protesting against harassment, they will not turn up at the hearings of ‘false’ cases filed by the police, BNP leaders said.
As part of their strategy, BNP leaders have started toughening their statements regarding their demands for the release of party chairperson Khaleda Zia.
They have said they will no longer wait for permission from the administration to hold their rallies. They have called upon the party leaders and activists all over the country to unite and launch a mass uprising against the government.
A section of leaders within the party have said that these statements of the senior leaders are giving the field-level activists and supporters a sense of courage.
However, the senior leaders are waiting to see whether Khaleda Zia is granted bail in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.
BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, speaking to Prothom Alo, said it has been decided that BNP will launch a movement.
The hearing of the bail appeal will be held by the Appellate Division on Thursday.
BNP leaders fear that legal tangles will be used to keep this appeal pending for some time. If the Appellate Division finally rejects the bail petition, BNP will have no alternative but to take up a hard-hitting movement.
Addressing a gathering at the party’s Naya Paltan central office in the capital on Sunday, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “We have no other slogan now. Our only slogan is for the fall of this government. We must unite and take up a movement. We will take to the streets soon and create a mass uprising to bring back democracy, to free our leader.”
The day before that, BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, addressing a gathering in Rajshahi, said, “The streets belong to the people. There is no longer any need to get approval from the administration to hold meetings and rallies. The streets haven’t been leased out to the government.” The next day the BNP secretary general reiterated these words at Naya Paltan, saying, “We will no longer seek permission. We will hold rallies whenever it is needed.”
The BNP leaders contend that the constitution has given the people the right to congregate and so there is no need for permission.
Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury has said that he is unaware of any such decision.
However, he said that when there are no alternatives left, people take any decision for the sake of freedom.
According to BNP’s monitoring cell, so far 101,986 cases have been filed nationwide against leaders, activists and supporters of the party, including chairperson Khaleda Zia, acting chairperson Tarique Rahman, secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and innumerable others at the grassroots. There are 3,595,905 persons named and unnamed in these cases. Presently 104,809 persons are incarcerated. These cases have been filed between 2009 and 24 November 2019, according to the BNP monitoring cell.
Gayeshwar Chandra Roy has said that the recent statements of the party leaders are indications of pre-movement preparations. He told Prothom Alo that there is no alternative to a movement. He said that the rigged election of 30 December hurt the people of the country, hurt the leaders and workers of BNP. Preparation for a movement is being drummed up so they may turn around.
The BNP standing committee leader went on to say, “There are some programmes that do not call for permission. For example, do we have to ask for permission for hartal (general strike), blockades or any protest?”
* This report appeared in the print edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir