BNP moves rally to Friday, so does AL

After much drama and uncertainty, police yesterday denied the BNP permission for holding a rally today, and the opposition party responded by rescheduling its gathering for tomorrow at Nayapaltan or Suhrawardy Udyan.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police did not give the BNP permission, saying a rally on working day would cause immense sufferings to people.

At a press conference late last night, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said people will see hindrance to any democratic activity as an attempt to obstruct democracy and fair polls.

"We are urging the authorities concerned [to extend support] to make the grand rally a success."

Also last night, the party informed the DMP about the change of date.

Signed by its Senior Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, the letter to the DMP said the grand rally would be held tomorrow at 2:00pm either at the Suhrawardy Udyan or at Nayapaltan.

Dhaka police also refused the Awami League's associate and front organisations permission for their rally at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram citing the same reasons given to the BNP.

The Dhaka University unit of Chhatra League then sought permission from the university authorities for a rally either at the Gymnasium Ground or in the Central Shaheed Minar area.

Three associate bodies of the AL -- Jubo League, Swechchhasebak League, and Chhatra League -- eventually rescheduled their rally for tomorrow. They will hold the rally at the trade fair ground next to the Bangabandhu International Conference Center in Agargaon around 3:00pm.

Gazi Mejbaul Hossain Sacchu, acting president of Swechchhasebak League, told The Daily Star yesterday, "A fair was held on that ground a few days ago and there are many holes there. The rally has to be delayed by a day as the trade fair ground is not ready yet."

All day yesterday, the political arena was tense as several parties had scheduled rallies in the capital for today and they were waiting for police permission.

People began expressing concerns on social media about what would happen today. Many feared violence.

The BNP picked today for its grand rally on July 22 and the same day Jubo League announced that it would hold a rally on July 24 at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram.

But the next day, the youth wing of the AL, in a press release said it would hold the rally today instead.

Aggravating the situation, Islami Andolon Bangladesh on July 25 said it would arrange a rally today at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram.

The two gates are roughly 300 metres apart.

Around noon yesterday, DMP Commissioner Khandker Golam Faruq said, "I will ask all political parties to hold rallies without causing sufferings to the people. Maybe a time will come when people will be fed up and we may be forced to ban these programmes."

A few hours later, the DMP said that the BNP would not be allowed to hold the rally at Nayapaltan or at Suhrawardy Udyan on Thursday.

Faruq said that they offered the BNP the Golapbagh ground and would grant permission if the party was interested.

The opposition party held its December-10 rally at Golapbagh. But before that, a BNP activist was killed, around 100 were hurt in clashes, and dozens were arrested, including party stalwarts.

After the DMP's announcement, BNP standing committee members held an emergency meeting where they decided to reschedule the rally for tomorrow.

A large number of law enforcers, with riot trucks and water cannons at their disposal, were deployed in the Nayapaltan area yesterday.

Several hundred BNP leaders and activists had gathered in front of their party office around 5:00pm but they left following the instructions from senior leaders.

ARRESTS

A few hundred BNP leaders and activists were arrested across the country yesterday and on Tuesday.

At least 95 BNP men were arrested from Dhaka and Narayanganj yesterday.

Of them, 86 were detained between Tuesday night and yesterday and have been sent to jail yesterday, said court sources.

At least 21 were shown arrested under Section-54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, under which cops can arrest anyone without a warrant.

The rest of the detainees were held under various cases filed with police stations in the capital, sources said.

Charges of involvement in vandalism, arson attacks, and obstructing police were brought against 65 arrestees, they said.

The Daily Star learnt some details on the arrests of some BNP men in the capital.

Pallabi police stopped Ariful Islam, youth affair secretary of Bogura's Sherpur upazila unit BNP, and three local Jubo Dal activists as they arrived in Dhaka's Mirpur in a car around 3:30am yesterday.

Police went through their phones and after being sure of their political identity implicated them in a case filed with Pallabi Police Station in Dhaka on September 18 last year.

"Police implicated them in a ghost case to harass them. They were not in Dhaka when the case was filed last year. Their only crime is they are involved in the BNP," said Imtiyar Parvez Setu, Arif's cousin.

Talking to The Daily Star at a Dhaka court, Moushumi Islam Khan said a team of Kadamtoli police picked up her husband Monirul Islam, joint convener of Cumilla City North Unit Jubo Dal from their Jurain home around 2:00am yesterday.

"My husband, a kidney patient, has been suffering from dengue for the last couple of days. I showed police the medical reports but they told us that they have been ordered to arrest him," she told The Daily Star.