Staff Reporter:
The police did not allow the BNP to take out processions at seven points of the capital on Tuesday, the opening day of the 12th parliament went into its maiden session, citing a lack of permission for the street program.
The BNP and like-minded opposition parties planned to take out processions holding black flags across the country, including in the capital yesterday demanding a fresh election under a non-party government.
In the capital, BNP’s Dhaka south city unit was scheduled to bring out the black-flag processions in front of Pirjungi Mazar, Jatrabari’s Kadamtoli Bus Station, New Market and Dayaganj intersec-tion while the Dhaka north city unit in front of Suvastu Nazar Valley Shopping Mall at Shahjad-pur, Uttara Section-12 Graveyard and near a mosque at Mirpur-6, also to demand the cancellation of the ‘illegal dummy’ parliament.
BNP leaders and activists started gathering the seven spots with black flags to hold their programs, but police obstructed them from taking out processions saying that the party did not get permis-sion for the program from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) authorities.
Meanwhile, police picked up BNP standing committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan as he went to near a graveyard of Uttara-12 in the capital around 2 pm to join BNP’s black-flag g proces-sion.
A group of police obstructed Dr Moyeen as he was addressing the gathering and took him to a po-lice van.
Later, the BNP leader was released and allowed to go to his Gulshan residence riding his vehicle.
Md Shahjahan, deputy commissioner of Uttara Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said “Moy-een Khan was neither arrested nor detained. We asked him to wait.”
“We also asked him to refrain from joining the black-flag procession,” he said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)’s Uttara Zone’s additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Mirza Salahuddin said the party tried to hold a program without any permission.
He said the BNP sought permission from the DMP to hold the program but the party was not per-mitted in a b bid to maintain law and order in the city. “That is why we didn’t allow them to hold the program.”
He said they also picked up 8 to 10 people from the spot for questioning.
Besides, police also foiled BNP’s processions in other areas of the capital and detained some BNP leaders and activists.
BNP standing committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy went to Pirjongi Mazar in the capital’s Motijheel area around 2:20pm but failed to take out the procession.
Talking to reporters, he said holding rallies and processions is a democratic and constitutional right of the political parties.
