Hartal extended till 6pm Thursday

The BNP-led 20-party alliance today extended its ongoing hartal till 6:00pm Thursday protesting filing of cases against BNP chief Khaleda Zia and acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

The announcement was made this afternoon through a press release floated to the media by BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed, what is now expected to cast a longer shadow on the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations.

The press release said the alliance will now observe the shutdown till 6:00pm Thursday protesting what it said killing and forced disappearance of the party leaders and activists, attacks on party men and filing cases against them, repression on journalists, controls on media and the government interference in judiciary. 

The 20-party alliance enforced a 72-hour hartal since Sunday morning protesting threats by Awami League leaders to arrest Khaleda Zia.

The hartal has been extended hours after Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan demanded immediate arrest of Khaleda and urged the prime minister to undertake steps in this regard for the sake of country.

Yesterday, AB Siddique, president of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad, a pro-Awami League organisation, sued Khaleda and three other BNP leaders for allegedly killing 42 people during the BNP-led 20-party combine-enforced anti-government movement since January 5.

The other accused are: BNP standing committee member Rafiqul Islam Mia, BNP vice chairman Shamser Mobin Chowdhury and pro-BNP intellectual Prof Emajuddin Ahmed.