Three-day countrywide blockade begins this morning

The BNP and other opposition parties are set to initiate a three-day blockade of road, rail, and waterways across the country from this morning (Tuesday), reports UNB.
The blockade is meant to pressure the Awami League government to resign and conduct the next election under a non-partisan neutral administration.
In addition to pressuring the government for a non-partisan neutral administration, the blockade also serves as a protest against the killing of opposition workers, the attacks on BNP's Nayapaltan grand rally, and the arrest of party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, as well as many other party leaders and activists.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami will also enforce the blockade simultaneously from Tuesday morning to Thursday evening demanding the current government's resignation and installation of a non-party neutral administration to oversee the 12th parliamentary election.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi called upon the country's people and their party followers to observe the programme spontaneously to make it a success.
At a virtual press briefing on Monday, he said "Our all-out blockades for three days will be observed on roads, railways and waterways."
Explaining the nature of their blockade, he said, they would block roads, railways and waterways to cut off communication of the capital with the districts, communication of the districts with the upazilas and the upazila's communication with the unions.
He, however, said vehicles of the newspapers or media, ambulances and vehicles transporting oxygen cylinders and medicines will remain out of the purview of the three-day blockade.
Apart from BNP and Jamaat, the 12-party alliance, Jatiyatabadi Samamona Jote, LDP, Gonoforum and People's Party, Gonotantrik Bam Oikya, Gono Odhikar Parishad Labour Party and NDM will also observe the programme separately.
After observing a day-long hartal, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday evening announced the countrywide blockades for three consecutive days.
Later on Monday, Jamaat Acting Secretary General ATM Masum announced a similar programme.
On Sunday, BNP announced a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal protesting the attacks on its grand rally at Nayapaltan. The shutdown was observed amid sporadic incidents of violence that left at least three people killed.
Meanwhile, the Detective Branch (DB) of Police arrested BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir from his Gulshan residence on Sunday morning. He was shown arrested in a case filed with Ramna Police Station in connection with ransacking the chief justice's house and later sent to jail.