The BNP will hold a public rally in the capital on Thursday (July 27) to press home their one-point demand, i.e. the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and holding the next national election under a neutral government.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the programme from a mammoth ‘youth rally’ at historic Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday.
He said the rally will be held in the capital at 2pm as part of their simultaneous movement.
Fakhrul, however, did not mention the name of the rally venue.
The BNP leader called upon people from all walks of life to join the rally spontaneously to hasten the fall of the current regime.
The other like-minded parties and alliances also announced to hold rallies on the same day in different parts of the country.
The youth rally arranged by three BNP associate bodies–Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal, Chhatra Dal, and Swechchasebak Dal–formally began around 3:28pm with the recitation from the holy Quran.
The main objective of the programme was to involve the young generation in the street movement for establishing their rights.
The rally started 90 minutes late as the makeshift stage set up for the programme collapsed apparently due to extra load.
The incident occurred when Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal President Sultan Salahuddin Tuku was formally opening the rally around 1:50pm. Later, party activists with the help of the employees of the decoration company repaired the cracked stage.
Youth leaders and activists from various parts of Dhaka wearing different coloured caps and carrying banners, festoons, placards and portraits of the party’s top leaders started gathering at the venue in processions in the morning.
Apart from the main rally venue, the BNP loyalists took a position on the nearby roads, disrupting traffic in the adjoining areas.
A large number of members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed around the rally venue to fend off any untoward incident.
The three organizations earlier held five youth rallies and got a huge response from the young people.
On June 2, three BNP associate bodies announced six youth rallies in Chattogram, Bogura, Khulna, Barishal, Sylhet, and Dhaka to drum up the young generation’s support for the ongoing movement demanding holding the next polls under a caretaker government.
