BNP, Jamaat call for hartal on 18 Dec
The hartal will be enforced from 6am on Monday.
The BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami have announced a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal on 18 December to press home their demands for the resignation of the current government and the restoration of a caretaker government.
The hartal will be enforced from 6am on Monday, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said today.
BNP announced the hartal amid a home ministry instruction to the returning officers to prevent political gatherings, rallies, and similar programmes from 18 December until the end of the 12th parliamentary election, slated for 7 January.
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Meanwhile, Jamaat acting secretary general Maulana ATM Masum said in a statement that the party will also enforce hartal on Monday.
For the fourth time, BNP has declared hartal on Monday since 28 October. In addition to the hartal, the party has implemented a 22-day blockade programme in 11 phases.
After the disruption of BNP's grand rally in Dhaka on 28 October, the party initiated a day-long hartal nationwide on 29 October. Subsequently, the party has been organising programmes such as blockades and occasional hartals lasting for one or two days.
These actions by BNP are in pursuit of several demands, including the resignation of the government, the conduct of elections under a non-partisan government, the release of party leaders and activists, and an end to harassment against party members.
Other political parties engaged in a simultaneous movement with BNP are also executing similar programmes.
