The Bnp-led 20-Party Alliance on Tuesday hinted at taking up a new tactic of movement to achieve victory of the movement for free and fair elections under a neutral caretaker government and refrained from calling hartal for the two remaining working days of the current week.
For the past several weeks the trend of the movement was to announce hartal (general strike) first for 72 hours from Sunday and then extend the same by 48 hours alongside the non-stop transport blockade across the country.The departure this week to refrain from calling hartal for the last two working days of the week is apparently because of the day of crackdown on the unarmed civilians by the then occupation forced on 25 March and the Independence Day of 26 March.
Barkatullah Bulu the spokesman of the alliance since the disappearance of Salahuddin Ahmed on 10 March has hinted at change of tactics of the movement to crown it with success.
The BNP-led 20-party alliance will stage countrywide demonstrations on Wednesday to press for its several demands, including the safe return of missing BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed and stopping enforced disappearances, killings and wholesale arrest of its leaders and activists.
The programme was announced through a statement signed by BNP joint secretary general Barkatullah Bulu on Tuesday.
The statement said processions will be brought out in all cities, district towns, upazila headquarters and municipalities to realise the demands.
The demonstration is also meant for demanding the safe return of leaders and activists of the 20-party alliance, who were made ‘forcefully’ disappeared.
In his statement the 20-Party spokesman alleged that the ruling Awami League was engaged in a movement to make its hold on power permanent by ending rule of law, through a controlled judiciary, countrywide repression by the law enforcing agencies and taking all organs of the state under its command. He said because of the blind animosity and lust for power of the ruling class the independence and sovereignty of the country was now at stake.
Bulu said all achievements of the War of Liberation have been demolished because of the end of rule of social justice. Continuous mass killing in the name of crossfire, denial of hauling up people after abduction by using the identities of law enforcing agencies, enforces disappearance, mass arrest, cases and attacks, doing away with human rights have been made the order of the day, he complained.
He said that by closing all doors to free and fair elections through the 15th amendment act the Constitution has now been made and instrument of depriving people of human and civic rights. The Election Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Judiciary and the Executive have been turned into institutions of carrying out government orders. The state has turned into a safe sanctuary of inept, corrupt people and looters as neutral and efficient people have been made non-functional but turning them into OSDs.
The 20-party spokesman said that the alliance has continued its movement by taking the people with it with a view to steering clear of bad politics and make all concerned respectful to the people’s demand. He said that the movement would continue till its successful conclusion, and soon new tactics of movement would be adopted to fulfill the aspirations of the people and compel the rulers to concede the demand of the people.
He said that 90 percent of the people wanted election under a caretaker government and was engaged in a united movement to achieve the same. The flag of victory of the movement of the people would definitely flutter by the grace of Allah, he added. – Staff Reporter
