BNP calls fresh 48-hour blockade from Wednesday

Giving a pause for a day after its 48-hour hartal, the BNP and like-minded parties will enforce a 48-hour fresh road-rail-waterway blockade across the country starting Wednesday morning to protest the schedule for the next national election announced by the Election Commission (EC).

Party Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came up with the announcement at a virtual press briefing on Monday afternoon. It will be the sixth phase of the blockade program of the opposition parties since October 31.

He said the blockade will begin at 6am on Wednesday and end at 6m on Friday.

Rizvi said the blockade is also meant for mounting pressure on the government to quit, hold the next election under a non-party neutral government and release party leaders and activists, including its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

He said other opposition parties, who have long been carrying out the simultaneous movement with BNP, also observe a similar program.

After a rally on October 28 that was foiled by clashes with law enforcement, the BNP called a hartal the next day and subsequently announced a three-day countrywide blockade to protest attacks on its gathering and arrest of its senior leaders.

The fifth phase of the blockade started at 6am on Wednesday and continued till Friday 6am.

Following a brief pause over the weekend, the BNP and its like-minded parties held a two-day-long hartal to press home their demands that will end Tuesday morning..