BGB patrolling city streets ahead of Oct 25 opposition rally
An imminent political chaos centring the opposition’s October 25 rally in Dhaka has apparently subsided with the conditional withdrawal of restrictions on gathering, and BNP agreeing to rally at Shurawardi Uddyan abandoning its bid to prepare Naya Paltan as the venue.
A discord surfaced after the DMP granted Suhrawardy Uddyan to BNP as its meeting venue. But BNP wanted to hold the rally in front of its Naya Paltan party office, saying that preparing Suhrawardy Uddyan in such a short time is difficult.
The police said they would not allow them to hold the rally at Naya Paltan. And at one stage, police seized the materials kept for erecting the stage in front of the party office.
Briefing reporters at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan Office later in the night, party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said they finally decided to hold the rally at Suhrawardy Uddayan for the sake of peace.
The rally will begin at 2:00pm. Leader of the opposition in Parliament Khaleda Zia will address it as the chief guest, he added.
However, the BNP leader accused ruling Awami League of creating panic by asking supporters to stay on the street,
saying the move as ‘highly intimidating’.
He also warned that the government would have to shoulder the responsibility if any untoward incident takes place.
Meanwhile, the government on Thursday tightened security in the capital and some other metropolitan cities with the deployment of para-military Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to prevent any violence ahead of the opposition rally.
Witnesses said gun-mounted BGB vehicles were patrolling the city streets on Thursday evening.
Over the past few months the main opposition BNP has been trying to drum up public support that it will begin its oust-the-government movement from October 25 rally.
The ruling Awami League had slapped the ban apprehending sabotage during the opposition rally. Earlier, the Awami League vowed to confront the BNP politically announcing similar programme in the capital.b But it later withdrew its planned city meeting for the same day.
This confrontational situation created an atmosphere of despair and panic among the people in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.
DMP commissioner told a press briefing that permission to hold the rally was given under 13 conditions, including holding of the rally only inside the Suhrawardy Uddyan, no gathering on the streets, footpath, or outside of the Uddyan.
According to the condition, the stage has to be erected at demarcated place; mike can not be used outside the meeting venue; the meeting must be finished by 5 PM; movement of vehicles can not be blocked; and any kind of sharp or lethal arms can not be carried. The DMP also restricted the joining of the meeting in a procession.
DMP commissioner said that if opposition activists would take any attempt to disrupt the security of the city dwellers, law enforcers would not hesitate to take any action.
However, he hoped that the opposition would not create any untoward situation.
Dhaka City Awami League General Secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya on Thursday said the party had cancelled their meeting in the capital.
He, however, said, they will remain in the streets after Juma prayer so that the opposition parties can not create any anarchy across the city.
“We will resist anyone resorting to terrorist activities,” Maya, also former state minister, warned adding that they would assist the law enforcing agencies to protect the city people.
Earlier, Dhaka Metropolitan Police refused to permit the ruling party’s city unit for holding any meeting on Friday in the capital considering possible clash between the two rival political parties.
The home ministry on Thursday formed a ‘monitoring Cell’ to watch the law and order situation across the country following the BNP’s rally on October 25.
Activities of the monitoring cell will start from 8 am on Friday and it would continue till 8 pm, according to a circular of the home ministry said.
Deputy Secretaries and the senior assistant secretaries will perform duties by rotation and they will maintain contact with the deputy commissioners and the superintendent of police in different districts, joint secretary (political) of home ministry Muzakker Ali said.
Additional secretary (political) Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed will coordinate the monitoring cell.
The government has issued a high alert at the secretariat ahead of the BNP’s rally in the capital on October 25. It fears the opposition might resort to disruptive activities and create an unstable situation at the administrative hub.
Members of law enforcement and intelligence agencies remain alert in the secretariat on Thursday to ensure security at the administrative centre.
The home ministry has issued an order banning rally or gathering inside the secretariat. The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), police and the Armed Police Battalion (APBN) have been deployed both outside and inside the secretariat.
Mashiur Rahman, assistant deputy commissioner of police, who led the team at the secretariat, said the security measures have been taken to avoid any untoward incident at the administrative hub. “I think prevention is better than cure,” he said.
Abu Taher, officer in-charge of the secretariat, told The Independent that the high alert was issued to avert any untoward incident.
-With The Independent input
