BNP men defy transport strikes to join Barishal rally
Tens of thousands of BNP supporters and activists have gathered in Barishal to join the party's divisional rally there slated for today, despite an all-out transport strike.
BNP central leaders, including its Secretary General Fakrul Islam, Standing Committee Member Selima Rahman, Join Secretary General Habib-un-Nabi, and Organising Secretary Bilkis Jahan, also reached the city by air.
The opposition party expects several lakh participants in the mass gathering to be held in the city's Bangabandhu Udyan, also known as Bell's Park, like the previous ones in Mymensingh, Khulna and Rangpur.
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Meanwhile, commuters have been suffering a lot as the district has been practically cut off from other parts of the country as owners of all modes of transport have been on strike for the past few days. People had to move by rickshaws or on foot.
Many patients also failed to avail treatment as hospitals and clinics had few doctors on Friday amid the strikes.
Talking to The Business Standard, most of the activists said they reached Barishal before enforcing strikes one after another, while a portion came yesterday using waterways.
A double-decker vessel, owned by BNP leader Mosharraf Hossain Shahjahan, anchored at the KDC area in the Kirtonkhola River on Friday afternoon carrying around 2,000 from Bhola.
"We have contracted a single-decker earlier but the launch strike made it unable to move. As the double-decker has been kept out of the purview of the strike we hired it to attend the rally," said Ashrafur Rahman Dipu Farjee, president of Bhola's Charfashion upazila unit of Jubo Dal, the youth wing of the BNP.
Hundreds of rented trawlers carrying BNP men were also seen coming to Barisal, surrounded by the Kirtankhola River, from different parts of the division.
"We have come from Bhandaria of Pirojpur on a trawler. Starting early in the morning, we arrived in the afternoon," said Dulal, a Jubo Dal activist, and added that many also came from other districts in the same way.
Most of the activists who arrived in Barishal have been staying on the rally ground making tents with awnings. Some have made cooking arrangements in the field too.
Some of the activists were seen keeping up the morale of the gathered crowd by singing songs and chanting slogans.
"Thousands of our activists have already gathered at the venue, which means that our rally is going to be a success despite numerous efforts from the government to foil it. We'll go on with our programme, no matter what happens," Moazzem Hossain Alal, joint secretary general of BNP, told The Business Standard.
He further added that the arrival of their activists cannot be stopped through transport bans.
"The Awami League government suspended the movement of all transports, but how will they stop people from moving on foot?" asked BNP Standing Committee Member Selima Rahman.
"BNP people will join the rally and make it successful. This tide is for the fall of the Awami league-led dictatorial government, this tide is for the formation of a new government."
BNP central leader and former lawmaker Abul Hossain Khan said, "The leaders of the transport sectors are all from the ruling Awami League. They aim to suppress the BNP."
"The government is using the administration for hurting us but it will not bear any fruit," he added.
After transport and three-wheelers, owners of speedboats, rental cars and launches on Thursday announced strikes ahead of the BNP's divisional rally, severing all communication with Barishal.
Similar strikes were enforced ahead of the BNP's recent Mymensingh, Khulna and Rangpur mass gatherings also. BNP leaders have repeatedly said the government has been forcing the transport bodies to go for such strikes so that the BNP rallies cannot be a success.
In the meantime, police increased patrolling in the city to avoid any unwanted occurrence. All kinds of vehicles, including private ones, were being checked at different points in the city yesterday.
"Additional police personnel have been deployed around the meeting venue to keep the law and order under control," said Azimul Haque, officer in Charge of Kotwali police station of Barishal Metropolitan Police.
The BNP meeting, however, brought a blessing for the street vendors and hawkers as their earnings increased greatly with the massive rush of people to the southern city.
