BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has joined a rally, being held in front of party’s Naya Paltan central office on Tuesday afternoon marking ‘democracy killing day’.
The decision to attend the rally was taken at a meeting of party’s senior leaders on Monday night. She also discussed the party’s preparations for its 5-January rally.The hour-long meeting began around 9:50 pm at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office.
Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Jamir Uddin Sircar, Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman, Mirza Fakhul Islam Alamgir, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, Hannan Shah, Abdullah Al Noman, Hafizuddin Ahmed and Selima Rahman, among others, attended the meeting.
BNP had also tried to hold a rally with black flags in front of its Nayapaltan central office on 5 January to observe the day as ‘Democracy Killing Day’ last year. But the meeting was not allowed. While Khaleda was confined to her Gulshan office, other acting senior officers were arrested or were on the run to avoid arrests.
BNP’s Nayapaltan central office was locked by the police.
Being stopped from coming out of her office on 5 January, Khaleda announced a countrywide transport blockade demanding a fresh election. The programme continued for 92 days amid widespread violence, including petrol bomb attacks, firing of law enforcing agencing on political workers that led to the killing over a hundred people.
During the movement most BNP senior leaders were implicated in many violence cases and many of them were arrested and thousands others went into hiding.
Bnp was prevented from holding a mass rally in Dhaka in January 2014 when the election, boycotted by the party and its allies, was held declaring candidates in 154 seats elected unopposed, and polling conducted in 146 others with thin attendance of voters – about four dozen election centres registering the casting of not a single vote.- Staff Reporter
