BNP\\\'s nationwide demo tomorrow

The BNP has called protests across the country on Sunday after it was denied permission to hold a rally in Dhaka city. BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the announcement at an ‘urgent’ press briefing on Saturday morning. BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was scheduled to address the proposed mass rally at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday afternoon. ‘This government has taken away our rights to hold rallies, meetings and make political statements. We sought permission because we respect the law. But we have been denied it,’ Mirza Alamgir told the reporters at BNP’s central office in Naya Paltan in the morning. ‘The ruling party holds regular rallies … it has meetings in front of its offices all the time, but we are not allowed. We’ll hold protests in Dhaka city and district towns across the country on Sunday,’ he announced. He said the BNP wrote to the Public Works Department (PWD) as well as the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) for its rally to mark ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’. Later, they sent another letter on Oct 29 informing the DMP commissioner that it would like to hold the rally on Nov 8, instead of Nov 7. Mirza Alamgir said, the police became so powerful that they started to ‘speak like politicians,’ according to bdnews24.com.