BNP gets rally nod on 22 conditions

With about three months before the national election, the BNP will come up with some specific demands, including polls under a nonpartisan administration, from its rally at Suhrawardy Udyan today.

The party believes the process for a “greater national unity” will move forward based on these demands, which also include release of Khaleda Zia and dissolution of parliament ahead of the election.

“We will place our charter of demands before the people and announce our next course of action,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the party, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police gave permission for the rally on 22 conditions, including the party's own arrangement of security, when two BNP representatives met DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia around 11:30am yesterday.

The BNP will have to install high-resolution CCTV cameras inside and outside the venue, set up archways and use metal detectors at all entry points, scan rally-bound vehicles with own scanners and arrange fire extinguishers in the venue, police said.

The DMP also banned all activities that can hamper public safety; carrying sticks; speech hurting religious sentiments, and arriving at the venue in processions.

Police asked the party leaders to end the rally by 5:00pm.

The BNP has been planning a massive gathering for today's rally. The party has asked its units at eight districts adjacent to Dhaka to bring people to send the government a message that they have the strength for both waging movement and contesting election.

The last time the party held a meeting at the historic Suhrawardy Udyan was in November last year when Khaleda Zia was present.

With the party chief now behind bars in a corruption case, the BNP will place a seven-point demand and a 12-point vision at the rally, senior leaders said.

The demands include deployment of the army with magistracy power during the polls; no use of electronic voting machines; reforms of the Election Commission based on consensus among all political parties, and presence of local and international observers to ensure transparency in the elections.

In its 12-point vision, the party says that if voted to power, it will not pursue the politics of vengeance, and that it will establish democracy and good governance.

Besides, it will not allow any terrorist group to use the territory of Bangladesh to operate criminal activities targeting any other country. 

About the condition of arranging own security, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said, “It's the responsibility of police to ensure security of the rally but they are coming up with such conditions.”

“Police maintain two different policies -- one for the ruling party and one for us,” he alleged.

On September 22, at a programme at Mahanagar Natyamancha Gonoforum President Dr Kamal Hossain and BDB President Badruddoza Chowdhury announced that they would work together to forge a “greater national unity”.

Several top leaders of the BNP and its allies other than Jamaat also shared the stage along with representatives of some small parties and civil society members.

Against this backdrop, the BNP planned to hold a rally in the capital and some leaders of the unity process said they would set their next action, including formation of a liaison committee for the unity process, after the party's programme.

Keeping this in mind, the BNP has decided to hold today's rally under its own banner, and not under the 20-party alliance.

Meanwhile, leaders of Chattogram city BNP at a press conference yesterday said they would stage a rally at Laldighi Maidan on Thursday.

“We have already applied to the Chittagong Metropolitan Police for permission,” said Shahadat Hossain, president of the unit.

He alleged false cases are being filed against BNP men. “Over 150 leaders and activists have been arrested and around 45 false cases filed against the party men in the city over the past ten days.”