Eighth phase of blockade: Chhatra Dal brings out rallies in parts of Dhaka
On 27 November, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami announced a fresh 24-hour nationwide blockade for Wednesday and a 12-hour hartal for Thursday
Chhatra Dal has brought out rallies in parts of Dhaka in support of the ongoing 24-hour blockade called by BNP-Jamaat.
Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leaders and activists staged a protest march in Dhanmondi on Wednesday morning.
They blocked the road while chanting various slogans reiterating their demand to scrap the schedule for the national elections.
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Jagannath University unit of Chhatra Dal also brought out a rally in the university campus on Wednesday morning.
Jagannath University Chhatra Dal President Md Asaduzzaman Aslam and General Secretary Sujan Molla led the procession which ended after traversing a few roads around 7am.
Md Asaduzzaman Aslam said, "If the one-point demand of the people is not accepted by canceling the illegal election schedule, Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal will take the final decision on the streets. We could not participate in the liberation war of 1971, but we will be the freedom fighters of this generation to protect the country's independence and sovereignty."
On 27 November, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami announced a fresh 24-hour nationwide blockade for Wednesday (29 November) and a 12-hour hartal for Thursday (30 November).
In November, so far 18 days were marked by three phases of hartals and five phases of blockades. Hartals were observed on 19-20 November with blockades continuing for the remaining days.
On 28 October, both the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami called rallies in the capital which were marred by violence.
The rallies – called to push home both the parties' demands of ensuring a polls' time government – took a violent turn soon after it began.
Clashes with AL partymen and police took place in different areas of the capital.
Midway into BNP's rally, party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir suspended the programme and declared a hartal the next day, alleging a police crackdown at their event.
Fakhrul was arrested the next day over the attacks on police the day earlier, alongside hundreds of BNP activists.
The arrest was met by BNP's announcement of a three-day blockade, starting 31 October.
The next day, Jamaat-e-Islami also announced an identical blockage programme.
Since then BNP-Jamaat and a few other political parties have been calling for blockades and hartals intermittently.
