BNP announces new programme for 30 Jan

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will hold black-flag processions at municipalities, upazilas, districts, and metropolitan areas across the country on 30 January, demanding the scrapping of the ‘illegal and dummy’ parliament and a fresh election under a non-partisan neutral caretaker government.

Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, a standing committee member of the BNP, announced the programme following a brief rally and black-flag procession in the capital’s Naya Paltan area on Saturday.

Addressing the event, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy said, “We should not return home with satisfaction but should continue our programme on the street. This government is not for the people; instead, it is for China, India, and Russia.”

He went on to say, “The prime minister managed foreigners’ certificates. If the people of this country do not certify, there is no scope to prove the government legal merely with foreigners’ certifications.”

The BNP called the programme protesting against commodity price hikes as well as to press home their previous demands for a fair election under a neutral government.

Leaders and activists from Dhaka and its suburbs started coming to the venue with processions at 12:30 pm. Following a brief rally, they brought out a black-flag procession around 3:30 pm.

On the occasion, another member of the party’s standing committee, Abdul Moyeen Khan, said they took to the streets to ring the final bell for the government, which is operating without the public mandate. It will be compelled to depart after being isolated from the people.

He also described the 7 January election as a moral defeat for the government.

Addressing the programme, BNP vice chairman Md Shahjahan said the 7 January election proved that the people do not want this government. If the BNP leaders and activists perform their duties properly, the government will be forced to dissolve this parliament and announce a fresh election.

Another vice-chairman, AZM Zahid Hossain, said around 90 per cent of people rejected the elections, but the government continued its rule, ignoring the constitution.