Security personnel on the ground outside Bhawal Badre Alam Govt College on Friday as a tense situation now prevails in Gazipur centring rallies called by both BNP and Chhatra League today. sun photo BNP has called dawn-to-dusk hartal in Gazipur and demonstrations across the country today protesting the imposition of section 144 and banning of rallies there scheduled to be addressed by party chairperson Khaleda Zia today. The programme for hartal was announced by Gazipur district BNP president Fazlul Huq Milon and that for demonstration by BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office Friday night. Fakhrul accused the government of utilising Chhatra League for creating the situation necessary for imposing section 144 and banning the rally of Khaleda. Meanwhile, the country is feared to run into political turmoil afresh after a year of relatively peaceful situation as the opposition BNP and ruling Awami League are apparently heading for confrontation over the old poll time government issue. The political discord and war of words and attrition between the two major parties are old, but the situation has taken a turn for the worse now over the programmes for observance of ‘Day of Victory for Democracy’ on January 5 by AL and ‘Black Day’ by BNP on the same day. As part of its preparatory activities BNP planned to hold a rally in Gazipur on Saturday and pro-AL Chhatra League announced a programme to hold a rally at the same venue on the same day. This conflicting programmes forced the Gazipur administration to impose section 144 and ban political rallies on Saturday to maintain peace. But undeterred by the administrative action both sides vowed to hold their declared rallies today raising the fear of clash and confrontation. Against this backdrop tension runs high in Gazipur. Meanwhile, further fuel was added to the fire as police arrested BNP standing committee member Gaeshwar Roy on the charge of his role in the Bakshibazar violence on Wednesday. He has been taken on remand for three days. BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has protested the arrest and demanded Gaeshwar’s release. BNP is determined to hold today’s rally at Gazipur despite the ban and also the rally in Dhaka before and on January 5 while AL is reportedly bent on resisting those. According to observers, what may come next will be decided on what happens today. But political confrontation between the two major parties seems almost certain in the days ahead. BNP along with its allies has decided to wage a tough movement marking January 5 as black day for the country’s history while the ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance has decided to foil any such political action. BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has been asking the government to arrange mid-term polls under a neutral administration, terming the incumbent government illegal. Turning down the demand the government has been saying that the next parliamentary polls will be held in 2019 under incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after the completion of its full tenure. The BNP and its allies boycotted the January 5 polls demanding a non-partisan government to oversee the polls but the Awami League, being in office along with some other parties contested the polls, held in line with the constitution. Since then, the BNP has been depending on its western friends, especially on America to realise its demand for mid- term polls but none has come forward to press the government to hold the mid -term polls. Tension mounts among the people, as the student fronts of the two sides—-BCL and Jatiyatabadi Chhtra Dal —-are also issuing threats to face each other on the street. Chhatra League declared that Khaleda Zia would not be allowed to hold the rally in Gazipur unless Tarique Rahman apologises for the derogatory comments against Bangabandhu. Chhatradal leaders said they would teach a good lesson to the BCL on the street for their offensive attitude against its senior leaders, including Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday directed the local administration not to spare any criminal for committing crimes. She said that her government would not want recurrence of another round of mayhem, carried out by the BNP and its ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami centering the last parliamentary elections. “Nab the miscreants irrespective of party affiliation,” Hasina said while making a video conferencing with local administration of two divisions——Rangpur and Barisal. “We do not want recurrence of the sort of anarchy, carried out centering the last year’s polls,” she said. The country has been ruled by the two leaders for the last 24 years. General people are in grave concern as the BNP plans to hold massive programmes on January 3 and January 5 in Dhaka while the ruling side plans to hold a rally at historic Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital marking January 5, as people voted the party to assume power for the consecutive second term. The BNP-led alliance may enforce countrywide 72-hour hartal if the government does not allow them to hold the programmes. The AL insiders, including some senior ministers, say that they will not allow the opposition to take the street under its control. “The BNP activists will not be allowed to take the street on January 5. Awami League and its front organisations will resist them,” Health Minister Mohammad Nasim said on Thursday. Meanwhile, Dhaka city unit AL general secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya also said that none would be allowed to take the street on that day. “I will remain on the street on that day. Let me see who dares to take the street,” he said. Meanwhile, BNP acting general secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that they must do something on that day. Amid the state of uncertainty, the government has asked the administration to remain alert to face the opposition’s any sort of anarchy in the name of movement. Keeping the last year’s mayhem in mind, the AL president and Prime Minister at a joint meeting of the party hinted that the government would not spare anybody for anarchy.“Nobody will be spared for trying to create anarchy. Even, Khaleda Zia may be behind the bar for violence,” she told the meeting, held at her official residence Ganabhaban recently.
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