Gazipur shuts down amid BNP strike, rally ban

The BNP has enforced a daylong hartal (shutdown) in Gazipur in protest against the local administration’s ban on gatherings at Khaleda Zia’s prescheduled rally venue. BNP’s Gazipur unit chief AKM Fazlul Haq Milon made the call on Friday night after a meeting of the BNP’s Standing Committee and senior leaders at party chief Khaleda Zia’s political office in Gulshan in Dhaka. Gazipur district administration imposed Section 144 in Bhawal Badre Alam Government College ground and surrounding areas amid tensions after Bangladesh Chhatra League, the ruling party’s student wing, said it would thwart Khaleda Zia’s rally on Saturday. BNP spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir condemned the move and dubbed it a ‘government ploy’. Khaleda has been appearing in public rallies more often after the January 5 polls to drum up support for a snap election. Saturday’s planned rally in Gazipur’s Chandana was part of the effort. The district unit of BCL on Dec 20 warned that they will not allow Khaleda to enter Gazipur until BNP’s Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman apologises for calling Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman a ‘Razakar’. BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir vowed to hold the rally at any cost and amid growing tension the local administration clamped the indefinite ban in and around the rally venue from Friday afternoon. Speaking with this correspondent, Mirza Alamgir on Friday evening said that the BNP-led 20-party alliance will later announce their next course of action after the observance of Saturday’s hartal, according to a news agency.