The BNP-led 18-party alliance is going to enforce another spell of 60-hour nonstop countrywide hartal from 6am on Monday to push for its demand for arranging the next election under a non-party administration, reports UNB. The hartal programme will end at 6pm on Wednesday.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir called the fresh shutdown at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office on Sunday morning after a secretary general-level meeting of the 18-party alliance.
He warned the government that it will have to shoulder all the responsibilities for the consequences if it creates any obstacle to peaceful observance of the general strike.
Earlier, the opposition alliance enforced another 60-hour countrywide shutdown from 6am on October 27 turning down Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s request to opposition Leader Khaleda Zia to withdraw the hartal programme that ended amid widespread violence, leaving 18 people dead and over 7,000 people injured.
As per the declaration of the opposition alliance, all type of media and fire brigade vehicles, ambulances and vehicles carrying hajj pilgrims will remain out of the purview of the hartal.
Meanwhile, panic gripped the city dwellers as several vehicles were torched at different parts of the capital on Sunday, ahead of the BNP-led 18-party’s shutdown programme.
However, there was no report of any casualty in the arson attacks.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police has taken all-out measures to ensure the security of the city dwellers fending off any unpleasant incident in the capital during the opposition-sponsored 60-hourlong nonstop hartal.
Sources at the DMP headquarters said over 10,000 additional police will remain on alert at different strategic points of the city to avert any untoward incident.
Besides, plainclothes police will remain there with still and video cameras at a number of strategic city points to identify the troublemakers during the hartal hours.
-With UNB/The News Today input
