Staff Reporter :The BNP-led 20-party alliance will observe a countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal today (Thursday) protesting the gun attack on BNP chairperson’s adviser Reaz Rahman.The alliance on Tuesday night called the hartal for 24 hours from Thursday 6:00 am. But, it curtailed the hartal by 12 hours. In a statement on Wednesday, BNP joint-secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed said that the hartal would be observed from 6: am to 6:00 pm on Thursday across the country. The reason behind of shortening the programme was not mentioned in the statement. A BNP leader said that the hartal time might be curtailed due to the second phase of Bishwa Ijtema, which will begin from Friday morning.Reaz Rahman, also a former state minister for foreign affairs, was shot on Tuesday evening. Unidentified criminals shot him and torched his car at Gulshan-2 area when he was returning from BNP chairperson’s office. He is now undergoing treatment at United Hospital Limited. The doctors of the hospital said that the health condition of Reaz Rahman was improving and he is out of danger.Rizvi urged the people to observe the hartal and blockade programmes spontaneously. He further said that the ongoing blockade would continue until the victory was achieved. He alleged that the government had let loose secret killers at different parts of the country in a bid to continue its illegal rule.In reaction to the ruling party’s initiative of forming resistance committees across the country, he said that the government had meanwhile formed committees with secret and dangerous forces to give its last poisonous bite in the face of tremendous pressure of people’s movement. “Reaz Rahman has become a victim of such brutal forces,” he said.
