Despite the denial of permission by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), opposition BNP is still hopeful that the government will finally permit them to hold their much-hyped rally in the city. “We’ve sought permission from the DMP in a written application for holding our ‘March for Democracy’ programme. We hope we’ll get the permission from the police,” said BNP standing committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan. The BNP leader expressed the optimism at an emergency press conference at the Jatiya Press Club. “We’ve come to know from media reports that the DMP didn’t permit us to hold the programme. But we hope the good sense will prevail upon the government and they’ll extend us all-out cooperation in peacefully holding the programme,” Moyeen Khan said. Asked what they will do if they are not allowed to hold the programme, the BNP leader said, “We’ve announced the programme which created huge enthusiasm among people across the country. We’re following the path of democracy and will remain on it.” “The movement for arranging the election under a non-party government is not mere an agitation by a party rather it’s a movement of the county’s 16 crore people. Our Sunday’s programme is meant for saving democracy and it will surely be held,” he said. He alleged that the government has created a volatile situation in the country by taking a move to hold a voter-less unilateral election. “We think if the government bevies in multiparty democracy it’ll consider providing all-out cooperation in holding the programme on December 29,” the BNP leader said. Moyeen Khan alleged that law enforcers have kept the opposition leader’s Gulshan residence, Gulshan office, BNP’s Nayapaltan central office and many other party offices across the country under siege. He was also critical of the government’s growing repressive acts by conducting drives by joint forces. The BNP leader accused the joint forces of harassing the opposition leaders and activists and filing false cases against them. Moyeen Khan claimed that the opposition leaders and activists have no link to the attacks on police and the common people at different places of the country. – UNB
