BNP rally begins, Golapbagh field packed to the brim
The last one of Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP's) planned divisional mass rallies has started in the Golapbagh field in Dhaka in time.
The field has been filled to the brim with thousands of BNP men while more leaders and activists are still entering the venue in groups.
With little room to maneuver in the field, the BNP men have taken positions on the adjacent roads and are chanting slogans.
The rally commenced at 11:00 am, but the BNP men began converging on the venue in large groups in the early morning. Leaders of the party's district and city units as well as the central committee joined the rally several hours ago.
The vehicular movement has been suspended on the Golapbagh-Dhalpur-Sayedabad road due to the heavy crowd of the BNP men.
BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, chairperson’s advisor Zainul Abedin Faruk, former Rajshahi mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu, Abdullah Al Noman, Habib Un Nabi Khan, Moazzem Hossain Alal and many other leaders took seats on the stage.
Standing committee member Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain will speak as the chief guest and is expected to announce the future action plan of the party, according to the party sources.
The rally is taking place after days of tension and clash with the police. A man, who the BNP claimed to be its activist, died after being shot in police firing during a clash with the BNP men in Naya Paltan.
Later, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and its standing committee member Mirza Abbas were arrested in a case filed over the Naya Paltan clash. Around 500 BNP men, including central leaders, have been arrested in the cases filed over the clash.
There was a standoff over the venue as the BNP sought permission to hold the rally in front of its headquarters in Naya Paltan, but the police provided permission in the Suhrawardy Udyan.
After days of negotiations and tension, the BNP finally secured permission for the Golapbagh field on Friday afternoon, hours before the rally.