BNP affiliates hold long march from Dhaka to Akhaura land port

Leaders and activists of Jubo Dal, Swechchhasebak Dal, and Chhatra Dal reached the Akhaura land port with a long march from Dhaka in the afternoon on Wednesday. The programme ended there with a rally. 

With this, the three affiliate organisations of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) protested the attack on the Bangladesh assistant high commission in Agartala of India, desecration of Bangladesh flag, and disinformation campaigns as well as conspiracies from the neighbouring nation. 

The law enforcement agencies took extensive security measures in the land port area to ward off any untoward situation, with deployment of members of the police, the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and  the village police at three layers.  

Leaders and activists from nearby districts, including Brahmanbaria, Cumilla, Feni, Noakhali, and Sylhet, joined the programme, with festoons, party flags, and national flags.

During a spot visit in the afternoon, the cops were seen setting up barricades 100-150 yards away from the land port's main gate, while members of the village police were positioned on the road adjacent to the land port field. International travelers were walking on foot to the immigration check post, which was guarded by the BGB men. 

Until 4:00pm, some 28 Bangladeshis and 24 Indian nationals crossed through the Akhaura immigration, which is significantly lower than the regular figure. 

Lt Col AM Jaber Bin Jabbar, commanding officer of the BGB battalion-60, said an adequate number of BGB men were deployed at the Akhaura land port, with additional troops kept on reserve.

The long march started for Akhaura from the BNP central office in Naya Paltan around 9:00am, more than one hour later than the scheduled time. 

Addressing the pre-rally gathering, BNP’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi vowed to uphold the country’s independence at any cost. “We earned our independence with blood. Will we sell this? We snatched independence from Pindi, not to surrender it to Delhi?"

He alleged that India doesn’t feel comfortable with self-governed people in Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. “Why should we adhere to their words? 

The BNP leader also commented that the rulers in Delhi failed to sense the pulse and bravery of the people in Bangladesh.