The party and its associate bodies will organise separate rallies, processions, sit-ins and cultural events during victory month, sources say.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Photo: Courtesy/File
“>
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Photo: Courtesy/File
Prime Minister and BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has asked party leaders and activists to remain active with political programmes throughout December, the Victory Month, and directed its three associate organisations to draw up separate programmes, according to meeting sources.
The decisions were taken at a nearly two-hour meeting at the prime minister’s office in parliament yesterday (15 November), attended by senior BNP leaders and representatives of its three associate organisations: Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal and Jatiyatabadi Swechasebak Dal.
The meeting discussed intensifying organisational activities and holding programmes throughout December. BNP-leaning professional organisations were also asked to announce programmes of their own, sources said.
The move comes amid heightened political tensions following former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s announcement that she would return to Bangladesh in December. Hasina fled to India after the July Uprising. Activists of the activities-banned Awami League and its associate organisations have since been active in various areas.
According to sources, Tarique asked the party and its associate organisations to formulate programmes on their own initiative. The programmes would not be treated as counter-programmes to those of other parties, and BNP would not organise neighbourhood patrols to obstruct its opponents’ events, as the Awami League had done against BNP programmes in the past, they said.
The planned activities include protest rallies, processions, sit-ins and cultural events. BNP and its three associate organisations will announce their programmes separately.
Several leaders also raised concerns about the recent incident in Gopalganj. Tarique said law enforcement agencies were investigating the matter, according to the sources.
Speaking about the meeting, BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said, “The meeting was nothing special. We will have the kind of programmes we usually hold in the Victory Month of December.”
Five BNP joint secretaries general, Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, Khairul Kabir Khokon, Amran Saleh Prince and Abdus Salam, attended the meeting. Top leaders of the three associate organisations, as well as the conveners and member secretaries of Dhaka Metropolitan North and South BNP, were also present.
About The Author
