The BNP-led 18-party Opposition alliance on Tuesday withdrew its nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal slated for May 2, as it did not want to hamper rescue operations at the collapsed Rana Plaza at Savar. This was stated in a press statement, signed by Maruf Kamal Khan Sohel,
press secretary of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.On Monday night, Khaleda held talks with standing committee members and senior leaders of the party to settle the issue.
The 18-party alliance had called the hartal to protest against, what it called, pre-planned killing of garment
workers, government’s failure and inadequate action in rescuing the Savar victims.
The nine-storey Rana Plaza, housing five garment factories, a branch of Brac Bank and a shopping mall, collapsed on April 24. Several hundreds were killed and thousands trapped under the debris.
On April 28, the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) called off its countrywide hartal on May 2 after the 18-party Opposition declared a shutdown on the same day.
“We have called off the May 2 hartal on humanitarian grounds and responding to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s plea in this regard,” Khaleda said in the press statement. On Monday, Hasina visited the spot and asked the Opposition party to call off its May 2 hartal for the sake of smooth rescue operations at the ill-fated building.
In the statement, Khaleda wanted to know where was Hasina’s humanity when a 173-day hartal was observed, demanding holding of general election under a non-party caretaker government (CG) in 1996.
Then in the Opposition, the Awami League had indulged in the politics of killing and arson, ignoring holding of public examinations. Where was her humanity at that time, Khaleda asked.
“Hasina was above everything else. Nobody was there to restrain her from calling an indefinite hartal at that time,” Khaleda said in the statement.
Hasina is singing the tune of humanity and at the same time killing innocent people without any reason. She is also sending Opposition party men to jail as part of her politics of vengeance, Khaleda alleged.
“We will never follow her path of vengeance. We have withdrawn the hartal because we consider the Savar tragedy to be a national crisis. People should be able to extend their helping hand to the victims,” the former Premier said.
“We have heeded the Premier’s call by withdrawing the hartal. We expect that she too will do the same and hold the next general election under a non-party caretaker government,” the Opposition leader said.
“I also expect that the Premier will take steps to hold talks with representatives of political parties for ending the deadlock over the CG issue,” she said in the statement.
The BNP brought out a “mourning procession” from its Naya Paltan central office as a mark of respect for the Savar victims. The party’s standing committee member, Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, at a pre-procession rally asked the government to arrest people responsible for the Savar tragedy.
He urged the government to provide at least Tk. 20 lakh as compensation to each family of the deceased, as well as those critically injured in the building collapse.
Mosharraf Hossain said the country is passing through a severe crisis following annulment of the CG provision. People are fed up because of the government’s misdeeds and mismanagement, he alleged.
“Either restore the CG provision or relinquish power. Otherwise, the government will be forced to do so in the face of a mass uprising,” he warned.
-With The Independent input
