BNP’s Dec 10 Rally: Venue issue yet to be resolved

BNP is taking preparations in full swing to hold the much-talked-about public rally in the capital, but has not got permission for their expected venue.

“We’ll hold our programme as like as we expect. We must hold our rally,” BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy told the Daily Sun.

Party insiders said BNP is going ahead with their preparations for the rally as they held a series of meetings and distributed leaflets in and around the capital and other districts in Dhaka division.

Although the divisional rally will be held in Dhaka, leaders and activists and supporters of the party will join the programme from different parts of the country, they added.

Talking to the Daily Sun, a BNP central leader said the party high command is taking all-out preparations to make the rally a success while they also are considering the matter of arrest of the party men ahead of the programme.

However, he said the party is determined not to hold the rally at Suhrawardy Udyan or away from the centre of the capital.

They will take position in front of the party central office at Nayapaltan in the capital for the rally on the scheduled day if they don’t get permission for alternative venues, he added.

”We didn’t ask for permission for Suhrawardy Udyan for our rally. We have clearly said the place is unsafe and we will   not hold any programme there,” BNP publicity affairs secretary Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie said.

He said they are hopeful that they will hold their rally in front of the BNP central office.

“We’ve proposed the place of in front of Ideal School in Arambag as our alternative venue. If we do not get permission for the place, they (govt) have to take responsibility,” Annie added.

Asked about the venue, BNP Dhaka south city unit convener Abdus Salam told the Daily Sun that they have proposed Arambag area and National Eidgah as alternative venues for the rally.

“If we do not get permissions for the alternative venue proposal, we will hold our rally in front of our party office,” he added.

BNP sources said party leaders, activists and supporters have already started coming to Dhaka to join the December 10 rally from different parts of the country.

They are staying at residences of their relatives and hotels while many others are staying at the places near the capital and will arrive in the capital just on the scheduled date.

The party men took position in front of the party central office on Tuesday and they were chanting slogans demanding permission for Nayapaltan venue of the rally.

Another central leader of the party said BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman has given them an instruction to stay in the field and to avoid police arrest to make the rally a success.

Addressing a press conference at the party central office, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the party will rigid on their stance of holding the rally in Nayapaltan if the government doesn’t give them permission for any of the venues they have asked for the rally.

“The Awami League government has come up with a planned blueprint to create obstacles in the peaceful mass rally of BNP. The situation of indecisiveness over the venue of the rally is a manifestation of the lawlessness of the government,” he added.

Deputy Commissioner (Media) Faruk Hossain told journalists that BNP has made a proposal to hold the rally in Arambagh area.

Mentioning that DMP will allow the rally only at Suhrawardy Udyan, he said DMP will not allow gatherings on the streets.

Speaking at a programme in a city hotel on Tuesday, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said there is no scope of hesitation about the rally as it must be held in the capital on December 10.

“People will dream from the rally and they will take to street with new programmes to work to establish people’s government,” he said. BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said programmes will be announced on December 10 to oust the incumbent government.

Source: Daily Sun