14-party, BNP plan rallies in Dhaka Saturday

The ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance will maintain control over Dhaka's streets on September 29, announced Mohammed Nasim, a presidium member of the party.

The announcement comes after the BNP yesterday also declared it would hold a public meeting at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan on the same day, instead of the earlier scheduled date of September 27.

AL's programme scheduled for September 29 was announced on Monday after a 14-party alliance meeting. 

“Get prepared in your area so that the evil force cannot take to the streets. Resist them on the field and [in the] streets,” Nasim, also the spokesperson for the 14-party alliance, asked of his party men.

The AL-led alliance will hold a rally starting from 3:00pm on Saturday at Mahanagar Natya Mancha, he said, adding, “Dhaka was controlled by us earlier and will be in our control [now]. Not only Dhaka, the whole of Bangladesh will be under Sheikh Hasina's control.”

Nasim made the announcement of occupying Dhaka streets at a meeting of the 14-party alliance, Dhaka city unit, at AL's old temporary office on Bangabandhu Avenue.

Nasim, also a coordinator of the 14-party alliance, said, “The conspirators will take to the streets. We will see who will take to the streets and who will not. For the next one month you do not have any work...[but to] stay watchful and resist any conspiracy.”

Regarding election campaign, he said it had started as they wanted a competitive election. “But when dishonest politicians talk about democracy, it creates doubt that an evil conspiracy has started again.”

Earlier at a press conference at the BNP Naya Paltan headquarters yesterday morning,   BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced that they would hold a rally on Suhrawardy Udyan on September 29 instead of September 27.

“We have deferred the date considering public convenience as Saturday is a holiday,” he said.

Asked whether they had permission to hold the rally there, he replied in the negative. "But, we hope we'll get the permission."

At the conference, Rizvi said leaders and activists of his party and its different units had started working in full swing to make the rally a success.