Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The opposition alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) decided on Saturday that the parties would go for street protests against any measure taken to increase gas or electricity prices.
The top leaders of the allied parties met Saturday night with BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in the chair and said they would even enforce general strike or blockade if the prices for gas and electricity were increased, alliance leaders who attended the meeting held at the chairperson’s Gulshan office in the capital Dhaka said.
One of the leaders said Khaleda Zia was serious about the street protests and all the attending leaders of the alliance supported Khaleda Zia’s stance.
He said Khaleda Zia might announce the next course of anti-government movement from a public meeting scheduled to be held in Comilla on November 29.
The meeting also decided that they will mark December, the month of independence, in a befitting manner and will not announce any harsher programmes for the month.
The December over, the alliance will also announce harsher programmes in protest against the government’s move to exclude pro-BNP genuine freedom fighters from the list of freedom fighters.
At the meeting, Khaleda sought commitments of the alliance leaders that they will be ready for any kind of sacrifice and will not leave the streets under any circumstances once she takes to the streets.
In reply, all the leaders assured that they will stay on the streets braving the bullets and repressive acts.
“I asked my party’s standing committee members whether they are ready to stay on the streets with me. They assured me of not leaving the streets under any situation. Will you be there with me on the streets,” an alliance leader quoted Khaleda as telling them.
At one stage, the BNP chief slammed Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami for its low performance on the streets and in the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
She rebuked the Jamaat representative at the meeting saying, “You (Jamaat) talk too much but act less and remain absent in the field. You’d enforced hartals but your people were not there on the streets. Everything was normal,” an Islamic party leader reportedly quoted Khaleda as saying.
The Jamaat leader Redwanullah Sahedi was silent at that time instead of trying to defend his party.
The alliance leaders said they will again sit after Khaleda’s Comilla rally scheduled to be held on December 29 and finalise the action programmes and schedules.
The alliance leaders also discussed PM’s adviser HT Imam’s remarks and Khaleda asked her partners to focus on the issue in their speeches and statements.
The meeting that began around 9:15pm and ended 11:10 pm also discussed the country’s overall political situation and their decisive movement strategy to force the government to hold snap polls under a non-party administration.
BBN/SSR/AD-23Nov14-9:11 am (BST)