AL-led 14-party to hold rallies countrywide on Sunday

The ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance in a meeting yesterday decided to stage countrywide protest rallies on Sunday “to counter the Jamaat-Shibir violence and ensure holding of the January 5 10th parliamentary election peacefully”.
It also plans to distribute leaflets highlighting the government’s achievements and misrule by the previous BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition and visit areas prone to Jamaat’s violence, said the meeting sources.
The meeting was held in Gono Bhaban, Prime Minister and AL President Sheikh Hasina’s official residence.
The sources said Hasina called upon the alliance leaders and workers to take every measure to ensure a good turnout in the election and turned down Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal Executive President Mainuddin Khan Badal’s proposal.
The proposal was to lay siege to the Pakistani embassy in Dhaka protesting the Pakistan National Assembly’s resolution, adopted on Monday, expressing concern over the capital punishment of Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah.
Mentioning BNP-Jamaat-e-Islam’s poll boycott, she said the nation and the constitution were now free from stigma “as people will no longer have to vote for war criminals and their companions”.
Hasina said they tried their best to bring the opposition to the electoral battle.
Strongly criticising the BNP-Jamaat’s countrywide violence, she asked them to shun such anarchy.
“The opposition leader is launching such violent activities to save the war criminals. But we will face the situation and people have to resist such acts. We will not sit idle watching their destruction,” she warned.
Expressing her firm stance to try war criminals, Hasina said there was no room for war criminals and their patrons in Bangladesh.