People are fed up: BNP
BNP rally in Rangpur begins as thousands defy transport strike, obstacles to join
People are fed up with the irregularities and mismanagement of the Awami League government, BNP leaders said yesterday at the party's fourth divisional rallies in Rangpur.
They claimed that there is no misdeed the ruling party did not commit – "from money laundering to robbing banks".
"They (Awami League) have swallowed the economy and the whole country. The Awami League government has been in power for the last 15 years, stealing everything from every sector, even from the Ashrayan projects," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the rally at Rangpur Collector Eidgah ground.
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"National and global media are covering this rally. If the government is not afraid of the people, why do they stop transportation and shoot our leaders," he questioned.
"Some 600 leaders and activists of our party have been forcibly disappeared. The government has killed thousands of people. Religious leaders have been arrested on false charges," he said, asking, "Can they be allowed to remain in power?"
BNP's Joint Secretary General Harunur Rashid said the BNP will announce new programmes on 10 November as part of its movement against the government and to restore the caretaker government to oversee the upcoming national polls.
"It has been proved during the four divisional rallies that neither the country nor the money is safe with this government. People's lives are in danger under this government," said Harunur Rashid.
Calling on the government to leave power, Harun said the people of the country have joined the movement to save the sovereignty of the country.
BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khasru said that the government has no links with the people of the country.
Condemning the government for the transport strike ahead of the BNP rally, Amir Khosru said, "Opposition parties usually call for strikes. But the government is now announcing hartals which clearly shows how acceptable Awami League is to the people."
BNP kicked off its day-long divisional protest rally in Rangpur Saturday morning despite a 36-hour transport strike.
Several thousand leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies from different districts joined the rally defying all adversities.
Various district-level leaders started speaking following the start of the rally around 12pm.
The Awami League is now looking for an escape route but they will not be allowed to escape. People will not let this happen, said BNP leaders.
Many had spent the night at the venue after failing to manage accommodation. They were seen using polythene sheets as makeshift beds. Some even came prepared with blankets and winter clothes.
Md Shahidul Islam, a Jubo Dal leader from Kurigram, said, "I had to change transports multiple times and overcome many obstacles to join the rally in Rangpur. The lives of the common people have become miserable due to Awami League's money laundering, bank robbery, and the destruction of the power sector.
"The country's most popular leader [BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia] is locked up in jail. She is innocent. BNP needs to come to power to get justice for all the wrongdoings," he said.
Though bus communication remained halted between Rangpur and the rest of the country since Friday morning, BNP activists from eight nearby districts were seen coming to different areas adjacent to the city by small vehicles like human haulers, auto rickshaws, three-wheelers, motorbikes, and micro-buses a day before the rally.
BNP activist Bashir Uddin came from Thakurgaon Sadar to Rangpur three days ago. He said, "I knew that a transport strike was about to be called. This is why I came here three days ago to be a part of the rally."
Md Raja Mia, another BNP supporter, said, "I and the whole country are now in jail. There is no morning or night for independence. We are Zia's soldiers."
Ahead of the BNP rally, Rangpur District Motor Owners' Association enforced the transport strike from 6am Friday to 6pm Saturday, demanding a ban on illegal vehicles, including three-wheelers, on the highway and an end to "administrative harassment".
However, BNP Vice Chairman Dr AZM Zahid Hossain alleged that the strike was enforced only to prevent people from joining their party's rally.
A similar strike was also enforced ahead of BNP's divisional rally in Khulna last week, but thousands of party leaders and activists participated in the programme overcoming the obstacles.
The BNP men said the rally is meant to denounce the price hike of daily essentials and fuels, the death of five party men in previous police action in Bhola, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, and Jashore, and to ensure the freedom of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
The BNP has long been demanding that the next general election be held under a caretaker government, not under any political government -- a demand sharply rejected by the ruling Awami League as the constitution does not allow it to happen.
Saturday's rally was the fourth one by the BNP at the divisional level after Chattogram, Mymensingh and Khulna.
Similar rallies have been planned in other divisional headquarters to drum up support in the run-up to the next election expected to be held late next year or in early 2024.
BNP will conclude the divisional rallies through a mass gathering in Dhaka city on 10 December.
