The BNP-led 20-partry alliance on Monday relaxed its ongoing hartal for 12 hours from 6am to 6pm on Tuesday for the celebrations of the Bangladesh cricket team’s quarterfinal berth in the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time. However, the opposition alliance’s non-stop blockade will continue. Besides, the 20-party alliance once again extended its ongoing nationwide hartal by 48 hours till 6am Friday. The BNP alliance made the announcements through a press release signed by BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan. “Processions will be brought out across the country on behalf of the 20-party on Tuesday greeting the Bangladesh cricket team as it for the first time reached the quarterfinal in the World Cup. All are requested to make this programme a success,” the statement reads. It further said, “On the occasion, the earlier declared hartal programme has been relaxed from 6m to 6pm on Tuesday.” The 20-party urged the country’s people to observe their hartal programme from 6pm Tuesday to 6am Friday alongside the blockade. Earlier in the day, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia greeted Bangladesh cricket team for sealing the quarterfinal berth in the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time. The Tigers reached the quarterfinal beating England by 15 runs in their 5th Pool-A match at Adelaide Oval in Australia on Monday. In a message, the BNP chairperson hoped that the Tigers would continue the winning streak in the upcoming matches of the World Cup, and wished continued success of Bangladesh cricket. On Saturday, BNP joint secretary general Salahuddin Ahmed, on behalf of the alliance, announced the 72-hour shutdown programme until Wednesday 6 pm. The alliance had already enforced five consecutive spells of hartal on working days — from 6m Sunday to 6m Friday– since February 1 killing nearly one hundred people and disrupting the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams. BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia enforced the blockade for an indefinite period on January 5 after having failed to come out of her Gulshan office to join a planned rally of the 20-party alliance in the city to mark ‘Democracy Killing Day’. — Dhaka, Mar 9 (UNB)
