Report in The Daily Star, Oct 28, 2023
Tension is running high as arch rivals BNP and Awami League are all set to show their strength within two kilometres of each other in Dhaka today.
Both parties got permits with conditions for their rallies from Dhaka Metropolitan Police last night.
There was a sense of unease across the capital yesterday with city dwellers apprehending that the rallies would spark violence and further complicate the ongoing political stalemate over the upcoming polls.
For days, the news has been dominated by nighttime raids and scores of arrests of BNP activists. Police set up checkpoints at the capital’s entrances and across the city to frisk people.
There had been uncertainty over the parties getting the police permission for the rallies, but they were given the go-ahead around 8:30pm yesterday.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami did not get permission for its rally at Shapla Chattar, but the party, which is not registered with the Election Commission, in a statement said it would hold the rally anyway.
The BNP is set hold the rally in front of its Nayapaltan office to press home its demand for election under a non-partisan interim government while the ruling party will hold a “peace and development rally”, a programme announced to counter the BNP’s rally, at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram.
Both parties got permission on 20 conditions that include no gathering at the venues before noon, the events must be contained within the designated areas, the rallies have to conclude within the time specified, and participants cannot carry sticks or rods claiming those to be parts of banners or placards.
BNP sources said most of the party leaders and activists travelled to the city for the rally and that they would like to stage a huge show of popularity and send the ruling party a message.
“The main goal of our peaceful grand rally is to compel the government to hold a free and fair election under a non-partisan interim government,” said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the party.
The AL wants its rally to be bigger than that of the BNP to send a message to the nation and the international community about its popularity, AL insiders said.
They said they took steps to get rid of the assumption of some that the BNP’s rallies have been bigger than those of the ruling party recently.
District and thana AL units close to the capital have been asked to send as many people as possible to the rally, according to AL sources.
The party also wants to make sure that a significant number of its rank and file are at the entrances to the capital, its unit offices, and other important places to thwart “any possible attack by opposition activists”, they said.
AL activists will be on the streets from early morning as the party does not want the BNP activists to have a free reign, the sources said, adding that the AL activists will not attack but they will defend themselves.
“We will die if required but will not leave the ground. It is another Liberation War for Bangladesh and we will be victorious if we are united,” AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said at AL headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue.
Yesterday morning, the AL started erecting a stage at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram even before getting the police permission. The work stopped around noon after the police intervened.
A lone police vehicle was seen there.
But at Nayapaltan, more than 100 police personnel were deployed since noon. Riot control vehicles and water cannon trucks were parked at the BNP’s rally venue.
The law enforcers set up 60 CCTV cameras there.
Apart from police, Rab deployed 1,500 members across the city. APBn is on standby.
The DMP yesterday held an emergency meeting of officers in charge of 50 city police stations and other top police officials at its headquarters.
DMP Commissioner Habibur Rahman and other high officials directed the field-level officials not to go on the offensive even after instigation.
“There could be instigation and abusive words hurled at the police but the police will show maximum restraint,” a high official of the DMP told this paper.
“Stay vigilance, do not allow any Jamaat men to enter the capital, and take lawful actions whenever needed. Probe the unidentified people or suspicious gatherings,” the official quoted the instructions given to the filed-level officers.
Asked about the meeting, Kh Mahid Uddin, additional commissioner of the DMP, said there were many political programmes on October 28. “So, we held a special meeting on the traffic plan, security, and diversions.”
Asked if law enforcers checking mobile phones was a violation of privacy rights, Mahid said, “The police are taking lawful measures when suspicion arises.”
Meanwhile, BNP leaders and activists started gathering at Nayapaltan around 1:00pm yesterday. They chanted anti-government slogans and were seen in procession on rickshaws on the street.
Aminul Huq, member secretary of BNP Dhaka north unit, claimed that tens of thousands of party leaders and activists would join today’s rally defying all obstacles.
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/al-bnp-ready-show-strength-3454436
