BNP plans 'final push' after 24 Oct with strikes, blockades

The BNP is planning to lay siege to all constitutional institutions of the country this month, to make its "final push" to force the government to resign and hold the elections under a non-party caretaker government, said sources at the party.

The party is likely to announce the "besiege movement" in mid-October, aiming towards the "final push" after 24 October, to press home its one-point demand. 

Before that, it will stage non-stop demonstrations from 8 to 20 October. However, there will be a pause in its programs until October 24, due to the celebrations of Durga Puja.   

As part of the siege programme, the party will gradually lay siege to important government establishments such as the Ganabhaban, the Secretariat, the Prime Minister's Office, the Election Commission and the courts.

Sources said the besiege movement may be followed by stricter programmes, such as countrywide blockades and strikes - the traditional form of political shutdowns - unlike the peaceful demonstrations the BNP has been staging since last year.

According to insiders, the BNP is likely to issue an ultimatum from a rally in Dhaka, to be held around 18 October, asking the government to step down.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary general of the BNP, said, "If the attitude of the government becomes strict, our programmes will also be strict.

"The movement to overthrow the government no longer follows conventional rules. At the final stage, the course of the movement will be determined based on ground realities."

In response to such statements of BNP leaders, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on October 1  said the "ill-intentioned efforts" of the opposition party to corner the government will be thwarted. He also announced a series of counter rallies throughout October to deal with the opposition on the street.

'BNP spirits lifted'

BNP leaders said that activists at all levels of the party got their spirits lifted following the announcement of the latest US visa policy on Bangladesh.

The European Union is not sending any observers during the upcoming polls and the US visa policy process is beginning. Such announcements have further strengthened the mindset of party leaders and activists.

"The announcement of the US [visa policy] greatly accelerated the ongoing movement to restore democracy. This has also motivated common people and activists involved in the ongoing movement for restoring democracy," Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, joint secretary general of BNP, told The Business Standard.

Some leaders of the BNP assume that more sanctions and visa restrictions on the government are likely from other democratic countries in the coming days.  In that case, the party grassroots will be "more strengthened" and the field-level administration of the government will "become weaker".

"The visa policy by the US alone has made the government upset. It has prompted extensive discussions in the Secretariat, and made the administration anxious," Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the BNP, said at a rally in Old Dhaka on 25 September.

"We have taken to the streets. We will not leave until the government puts in its resignation," said Abdul Moyeen Khan, a Standing Committee member of the BNP, at a rally of the party's Mymensingh divisional road march on 1 October.

Addressing the same rally, another Standing Committee member, Nazrul Islam Khan said, "Our movement will intensify in the coming days. We must win the fight."