BNP stages sit-in over Khaleda's conviction

The BNP top brass urged the party leaders and activists to intensify movement to ensure the release of Chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail.

The party leaders and followers will observe a hunger strike from 9:00am to 5:00pm across the country today as part of the demonstration.

“Our movement is to release Khaleda Zia, our leaders and activists, and democracy. Let us vow to make the programmes a success to bring Khaleda Zia out of jail,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the party, said addressing a human chain yesterday.

The party staged sit-in programmes in front of its Nayapaltan headquarters in Dhaka and some other districts yesterday in protest against the jail sentence of Khaleda in a graft case.

Issuing a note of caution to the government, the BNP leader said it would not be possible to subdue the “movement of people by sending Khaleda to jail”.

Fakhrul alleged that Khaleda has been sent to an abandoned jail which is completely violation of human rights. “It is a crime against humanity and the responsible would be tried.”

BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the government has been hatching conspiracy to keep Khaleda and BNP out of next election.

“We want to reiterate that the next election will not take place without Khaleda Zia. Khaleda Zia's popularity has increased after she was sent to jail.”

A good number of BNP leaders and activists gathered in front of the party HQ and started their programmes around 11:00am in presence of senior leaders. They chanted slogans demanding the immediate release of Khaleda.

Police cordoned off the protesters to fend off any trouble. The programme ended without violence.

The BNP held the programme in front of its party headquarters as police did not give any written permission to use the premises of the Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh.