Attempt to foil BNP rally

BNP'S acting secretary general has alleged that the government is trying to thwart the March 12 BNP rally. The allegation comes as extremely disconcerting news. In a democratic country every political party is entitled to hold rallies to press home its demands in a peaceful manner. However, a news item in yesterday's issue of this paper gives us a different picture altogether. Reportedly, hoteliers in the capital and bus owners all over the country are being intimidated by certain influential quarters to prevent BNP activists from joining the rally.
Any attempt to foil the upcoming rally, that too on the part of the government, stands in stark contrast to people's fundamental democratic rights. Earlier, BNP's request to hold the rally at the Paltan Maidan was rejected with no plausible explanation from the concerned authorities, given the fact that the BNP had declared this programme a long time ago. And we wonder whether the police have allowed the AL's counter programme to be held at the Maidan, or whether permission has been sought at all.
The nod has been given to hold the rally in front of BNP party office; we wonder whether the authorities consider holding a political rally on a major thoroughfare a sensible alternative to Paltan Maidan, given the tremendous traffic snarl up it will cause. And even then we are seeing some surreptitious mechanisms at work to foil the rally.
We are perturbed also by unwarranted utterances by some senior AL leaders, meant as warning to the BNP of any attempt to create chaos, and the likely dire consequences, and more so when it comes from a senior AL office bearer.
A political party's right to hold a rally is guaranteed by the constitution, and it is the government's bounden duty to ensure that a constitutional right is upheld, not obstructed. If the government has any forewarning and authentic information it should take appropriate actions as deemed necessary and share the same with the public, otherwise people are likely to ascribe motives to the police actions. Contrived precipitate action will be counterproductive and will not go down well with the people.