Staff Reporter :The BNP-led 20-party alliance has called another spell of 72-hour countrywide hartal from tomorrow (Sunday) alongside the ongoing blockade to press home their demands, including fresh elections under a non-party government system. BNP Joint-Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed, on behalf of the alliance, in a statement on Friday afternoon announced the hartal. Accordingly, the shutdown will begin from 6:00 am on Sunday and will continue till 6:00 am on Wednesday if it is not extended further. Besides, the alliance will bring out mass processions in the districts, upazilas, municipalities and thanas across the country tomorrow (Sunday). Salahuddin Ahmed urged the leaders and workers of the 20-party to observe the hartal and bring out mass processions in a peaceful manner. The BNP-led alliance enforced hartal across the country on all working days in the month of February. The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations, which were due to start on February 2, are being held on weekends due to the shutdowns.The new spell of the shutdown was announced hours after the five-day hartal by the alliance ended on Friday morning. The alliance called the shutdown also to register its protest against killings, enforced disappearances, abductions, and crippling of the opposition men by the law enforcers and ruling party cadres, mass arrest of the 20-party men and common people and filing of false cases against alliance leaders and workers.Announcing the hartal programme, Salahuddin Ahmed asked the government to accept the demands of the people immediately. Otherwise, they will have no second choice than going for ‘harsher programmes’ to establish the rights of the people, he warned.
