72-hour hartal from tomorrow

The 25th day of indefinite blockade, enforced by BNP-led 20-Party Alliance, passed off on Friday amid fresh call for a 72-hour countrywide hartal from 6.00 am tomorrow (Sunday).

The alliance on Friday called a fresh 72-hour nationwide hartal as part of its movement for 'restoring democracy and people's voting rights'.

In a statement, BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, on behalf of the alliance, announced the fresh shutdown programme.

Meanwhile, Friday's blockade was marked by stray incidents of violence and arrests of 20-party activists. A large number of law-enforcers remained deployed in different parts of the capital to fend off any trouble on the 25th day of indefinite blockade.

However, miscreants torched two buses in the city's Kaptanbazar and Tatibazar areas. No casualties were reported in the incidents.

In the morning, an Abdullahpur-bound bus of Victor Paribahan was torched at Tatibazar at around 8.30 am. Fire-fighters from Sadarghat Fire Station rushed to the scene, and doused the blaze.

Besides, a bus of Madina Paribahan was set on fire in front of Mayor Hanif Flyover toll plaza at around 2.30 pm. Fire service inspector Nilufar Yasmin said their three units tried to control the blaze.

Rizvi, in his press statement, said the hartal that would end at 6.00 am on Wednesday was also meant for registering the 20-party's protest against the ruling party leaders' threat to 'blow up' the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office and arrest her, the Prime Minister's instruction to police to suppress the movement by any means, hurling bombs and firing shots by the government agents in front of senior BNP leaders' houses, and gun attacks on BNP chairperson's adviser Reaz Rahman.

The hartal will also be observed in addition to the ongoing blockade to protest the recent killing of 21 opposition men by law-enforcers, arrest of over 15,000 20-party leaders and activists across the country, and filing of around 150,000 'false' cases against them, harassment of opposition men by joint forces' drives, and shifting the blame on opposition after carrying out acts of sabotage by throwing petrol-bombs at public transports by the government agents, the statement added.

On the day, the 20-party turned down Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid's call to lift the blockade for smooth holding of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent exams, saying that the 'peaceful' action programme would continue.

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