Staff Reporter :The BNP-led 20-party alliance will stage demonstration across the country on Sunday, demanding unhurt return of all its abducted leaders and activists, including BNP’s disappeared Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed.In a statement on Saturday, another Joint Secretary General of BNP Barkatullah Bulu announced the programme. He also called upon the countrymen, on behalf of the BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, to take part in the movement. The 20-party alliance also demanded the end of the killing and mass arrest of its leaders and activists. “The law enforcement agencies abducted a large number of opposition leaders and activists, including Salahuddin Ahmed. The peaceful agitation will be held in all upazilas, districts, pourosavas and cities of the country, demanding their unhurt and safe return and a stoppage of killing and mass arrest of the opposition leaders and activists,” the statement said.With the announcement of agitation programme, BNP and its allies are likely to backtrack from their non-stop hartals to concentrate on the City Corporation elections as they did not announce any fresh hartal after Independence Day.Some senior BNP leaders also showed positive attitude towards their participation in the Dhaka and Chittagong City Corporation elections, underscoring the need for a level playing field for taking part in the polls. The BNP-led alliance had called hartals five working days a week on the top of continuous blockades through releasing statements since the beginning of February. But it relaxed hartals for two days on the occasion of Independence Day. It also did not call fresh shutdown after Independence Day. Though it continues with the non-stop blockade, it raised hopes in the political arena that the 20-party combine may abandon its programmes of nonstop hartals and blockades as well.
