Police will take action if BNP men gather at Nayapaltan for 10 Dec rally: Home minister

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has warned that police will take action if BNP men gathered at Nayapaltan to join the party's 10 December rally in defiance of police warning. 

"DMP Police Commissioner allotted Suhrawardy Udyan for BNP's 10 December rally as BNP claimed that a large number of people will participate in the rally," said the minister while talking to reporters at the inauguration programme of Shaistaganj Police Station's new building in Habiganj Saturday (3 December).

He said, "All political parties including Awami League hold their rallies at Suhrawardy Udyan.  But defying police instruction, BNP is adamant to hold their rally at Nayapaltan."

"If they gather in front of their (BNP) party office in Nayapaltan, police will take necessary action," he warned.

The home minister said "It is the DMP commissioner's obligation to make Dhaka livable for two crore people, as the BNP has threatened to bring down the government by taking the city to a halt on 10 December."

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), on Tuesday (29 November), permitted BNP to hold its rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital on 10 December on 26 conditions.

The next day BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir urged the government to take necessary steps so that their party can hold the rally at Nayapaltan instead of Suhrawardy Udyan.

Earlier on Wednesday (30 November), police said they will take action if the BNP tries to hold the rally anywhere in Dhaka except Suhrawardy Udyan.

Citing potential traffic woes and security reasons related to the holding of the rally at Nayapaltan, "Any defiance will meet with Sections 28 and 29 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Ordinance Act," said DMP Deputy Commissioner (media and public relations) Faruk Hossain.

The sections are about the power of the police to prohibit an assembly or procession to maintain law and order.

Addressing at BNP's ninth divisional rally in Rajshahi today (3 December), BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir reiterated the party's firm stance on holding the 10 December rally in front of the party's Nayapaltan office in Dhaka.