Staff Reporter :
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday said that they vowed to continue peaceful movement to compel the government for early release of the party Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
“The government has imprisoned our Chairperson through a conspiracy. We must continue our peaceful movement until the people’s leader is released from jail,” he said while addressing a human chain of BNP leaders and activists in front of the Jatiya Press Club.
BNP Standing Committee Members Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Nazrul Islam Khan, Vice-Chairmen Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yousuf, Mohammad Shahjahan, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Shamsuzzaman Dudu, AZM Zahid Hossain, Barkatullah Bulu and Abdul Awal Mintoo, among other leaders were present in the programme.
Mirza Fakhrul said that the government has imprisoned Khaleda Zia as part of a conspiracy to keep her away from politics and polls. “So, we will never go to national elections without Khaleda Zia. It will not be possible to hold national polls keeping the BNP chief in prison,” he said.
A huge number of leaders and activists join the pre announced the human chain programme.
Mirza Fakhrul also asked the leaders and activists to continue such agitation until party chief Khaleda Zia is released.
He told the party men, “You have expressed your anger through joining the human chain programme and chanting slogans braving many obstacles. You have shown opposition against the jailing of our party chairperson Khaleda Zia and showed love for her.”
The BNP men took position from Kadam Foara to Topkhana intersection to form the human chain. A huge number of women activists also joined the programme.
The whole areas filled with the BNP men. They chanted different slogans demanding immediate release of the party chief.
Huge number law enforcers were also deployed in and around the area to keep control the law and order situation in the area.
Earlier on Saturday, Rizvi announced a three-day protest programme at a press briefing at the BNP’s Nayapaltan central office.
As part of the programme, the party will also hold an hour-long sit-in programme from 11:00am to 12:00pm on Tuesday in front of the Jatiya Press Club and a hunger strike from 9:00am to 5:00pm on Wednesday across the country.
On Thursday last, a special court here convicted Khaleda and sentenced her to five years imprisonment in a graft case.
Earlier, BNP leaders and activists staged demonstrations on Friday and Statuary protesting Khaleda’s conviction all over the country, including in the capital, amid obstruction by police.
Besides, BNP Senior Joint-Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Monday claimed that over 4,400 leaders and activists of the party have been detained by the police across the country.
He also said that police has arrested more than 85 party men on Monday across the country, 18 of them from the capital. Among others, the detainees include BNP Vice-Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu.
