Another face-off?:Daily Star

The BNP-led alliance wants to hold a rally in the capital tomorrow and announce tougher anti-government programmes from there, BNP insiders said. The ruling Awami League too is set to hold a rally in the city tomorrow to mark the homecoming day of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, though an indefinite ban on rallies and demonstrations in the capital is in place. "Madam [Khaleda Zia] is considerin
g holding a rally in front of the BNP's Nayapaltan central office on Monday. In that case, the opposition alliance will relax its ongoing blockade programme from tomorrow [today],” a BNP leader close to Khaleda told The Daily Star, wishing anonymity. According to BNP sources, the party will seek permission for the rally today. If the government does not give the permission and continues to keep Khaleda confined to her Gulshan office, the 20-party alliance might enforce nonstop countrywide hartal, the sources said. Earlier on Monday, the BNP was prevented from holding a rally on the first anniversary of controversial January 5 election, boycotted by the party and its allies. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) banned rallies and demonstrations in the capital from that day onwards for an indefinite period. BNP leaders said the DMP has to withdraw the ban if the AL holds its rally. And in that case, the BNP too will take the opportunity to hold its rally. Advertisement A BNP standing committee member said the BNP chief has instructed the district, upazila and Dhaka city leaders of the party to intensify the ongoing blockade after the first phase of Biswa Ijtema ends tomorrow, to put pressure on the government for a dialogue with the opposition on holding an inclusive election under a non-partisan administration as soon as possible. Another senior BNP leader said they have no alternative to continuing and intensifying the ongoing anti-government movement, including blockades, to materialise the demand. The BNP high-command is hopeful that the ongoing blockade programme will gain momentum as, it believes, more people will participate in it after the Ijtema. Meanwhile, the ruling party has asked its grassroots leaders to remain alert to any sabotage bid of the BNP-Jamaat alliance. AL Joint General Secretary Mahabubul Alam Hanif made the call at a meeting at party president Sheikh Hasina's Dhanmondi office yesterday, sources said. Central leaders of the AL, leaders and MPs of Dhaka city and its adjacent district units, and representatives of its front organisations were present at the meeting, convened to ensure a massive gathering at the party's rally at Suhrawardy Udyan tomorrow. The party sought permission from the DMP on Friday. Quoting intelligence reports, Hanif said criminals backed by the BNP-Jamaat alliance have gathered at Biswa Ijtema ground and after the Ijtema, they might move towards Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office. Gazipur district unit leaders were asked to remain alert so that none can create any unwanted situation. State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal asserted at the meeting that law enforcement agencies are ready to resist "any evil design of the BNP-Jamaat alliance". AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, who chaired the meeting, said the government will tackle all conspiracies of the BNP with an iron hand. He also termed false the touted telephone conversation between Khaleda Zia and Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah, and some US congressmen's statement on Bangladesh's political situation, meeting insiders told The Daily Star. After the meeting AL Joint General Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanak told the press that arms and jihadi books and leaflets have recently been recovered from places adjacent to the Ijtema ground. This means the BNP-Jamaat people might carry out subversive activities after the Ijtema. 9TH DAY OF KHALEDA'S CONFINEMENT The BNP chief's confinement to her Gulshan office enters its 9th day today. With law enforcers still guarding her office, Khaleda Zia is unlikely to attend the Akheri Munajat of the Ijtema today amid the BNP-led alliance-sponsored blockades. "In that case, Madam [Khaleda] will take part in the Akheri Munajat from her office as the programme will be live telecast on different TV channels,” a staff of the BNP chief's media wing told The Daily Star. Two police vans and a water cannon were blocking both ends of the road to Khaleda Zia's office yesterday as well. Some female BNP leaders and the family members of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali were allowed to go inside and meet Khaleda. Emerging from the office, Ilias Ali's wife Tahsina Rushdir said the BNP chief was "feeling better". Police on January 5 sprayed pepper spray while she was trying to come out of the office premises to attend the Nayapaltan rally. BNP leader Sabihuddin Ahmed, a delegation of pro-BNP lawyers and former cabinet secretary Abdul Halim also visited Khaleda yesterday. Meanwhile, BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told some TV reporters at an undisclosed location that the government agents are carrying out "subversive activities" during the ongoing blockade and blaming the opposition for those.