Staff Reporter:
The BNP and like-minded opposition parties are set to enforce a 48-hour nationwide hartal from Sunday morning, as their movement to force the government to resign almost 18 months ago moves into a new, critical phase. The hartal has been called to protest the Election Commission’s schedule for the next national election under the Awami League-led government, announced last week.
The shutdown which will begin at 6am on Sunday and end at 6am on Tuesday is meant to mount pressure on the government to step down and hand over power to a neutral government and release all the arrested BNP leaders and workers, including its secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Ala-mgir.
At a press briefing on Saturday, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, one of the few leaders of the party not incar-cerated at present, called upon people from all walks of life and the opposition leaders and workers to observe the program peacefully and make it a success.
