Coinciding the three-day national mourning for Nelson Mandela, the
BNP-led 18-party alliance enforces its fresh spell of 72-hour
road-rail-waterway blockade across the country at 6am on Saturday
demanding that the next national election be arranged under a
non-party government. The 72-hour blockade will end after 6am on
Tuesday if it is not extended further unlike the previous two spells.
Meanwhile, the government on Friday announced a three-day national
mourning from Saturday to pay homage to iconic anti-apartheid leader
Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Nelson Mandela, who became one of
the world’s most beloved statesmen and a colossus of the 20th century
when he emerged from 27 years in prison to negotiate an end to white
minority rule in South Africa, died late Thursday (South Africa time)
at the age of 95. Besides, Dhaka city BNP on Friday called a 24-hour
shutdown beginning at 6am on Sunday in the city protesting the arrest
of its convener Sadeque Hossain Khoka and demanding the withdrawal of
‘false’ cases filed against senior BNP leaders. The 18-party has
already enforced 202 hours of road-rail-waterway blockade across the
country in two spells –71-hour and 131-hour ones– after the
announcement of the election schedule for the 10th parliamentary
elections that left at least 45 people dead. Hot on the heels of its
countrywide 131-hour blockade programme protesting the election
schedule, BNP joint secretary general Salauddin Ahmed on Thursday
announced the 72-hour nationwide blockade through a video message sent
from an undisclosed location. “We call upon the country’s people to
observe the programme in a peaceful manner. At the same time, we want
to say that we’ll forthwith withdraw the blockade whenever the
government will accept the non-party caretaker government demand,” he
said. The blockade programme is also meant to push for the release
of the arrested alliance leaders. Earlier, the opposition alliance
called nonstop 131-hour second spell of blockade ended at 5pm on
Thursday. On November 30, the alliance first enforced a 72-hour
blockade from 6:00am December 1, which was later extended by 59 hours
till 5pm today (Thursday) for pushing the same demand. The 131-hour
blockade was marked by violent incidents of clashes, bomb blasts,
vandalism and arson attacks on buses and railways across the country,
leaving at least 26 people. The opposition combine enforced the
first spell of 48-hour road-rail-waterway blockade 6m on November 26
protesting the announcement of the schedule for the 10th parliamentary
polls. However, the alliance later extended it by 23 hours that
ended at 5am on November 29 amid widespread violent incidents, leaving
at least 19 people dead, including three students who along with 15
others suffered severe burn injures as miscreants set a
passenger-packed bus at Shahbagh in the capital. There had been
violent incidents like vandalising and torching of vehicles, clashes
between blockade supporters and police and ruling party activists,
arrest of opposition leaders and activists and crude bomb blasts
allover the country, including the capital, injuring over a 1,000
people and damaging several hundred vehicles. On November 25, the
Chief Election Commissioner announced that the 10th parliamentary
elections will be held on January 5 next. – UNB
