Bangladesh News

Sensing that the government may not meet its reform demands, the 14-party opposition is making all-out preparations from today to launch massive street agitations to protest against handover of power to Justice KM Hasan.

The Awami League (AL)-led opposition alliance is beginning the preparations with a series of meetings with their leaders of all units and front organisations as uncertainty mounts over the success of ongoing BNP-AL dialogue.

Moreover, the opposition has plans to go for countrywide indefinite hartal and blockade programmes alongside a march towards Dhaka. These programmes would be launched only if Hasan-led caretaker government takes over.

Most of the 14-party senior leaders now believe the government would not meet the demands for electoral reforms, especially the Justice Hasan issue.

“We will have no alternative but to forge all-out movements if the dialogue fails,” AL presidium member Tofail Ahmed told The Daily Star. He added that they would do everything to press home their demands for electoral reforms.

“We will not only besiege the capital city but also put up resistance in the villages. Besides, we will also go for indefinite countrywide shutdown to press home our demands,” Tofail said.

“A grave political situation would emerge in the country if peaceful solution does not come out of the October 23 dialogue.”

To launch the final spell of agitation, the opposition sits with their leaders of Dhaka city’s thana and ward level units at 2:00pm today and with those of its front organisations tomorrow. The leaders and activists are likely to be instructed to take control of the streets and face the ruling party men ‘politically’ if everything goes otherwise.

All upazila and district units of the opposition’s front organisations will also sit simultaneously tomorrow for preparations.

As a warm-up step, the opposition will stage countrywide demonstrations on October 22 — the day before the final round of talks — to observe the day as the “reform proposals implementation day”. It has already applied for Paltan Maidan for holding there a massive rally from where the opposition top brass will direct the city leaders and activists.

At these meetings, all the unit level leaders will be asked to bring to the capital thousands of demonstrators with sticks, oars and poles of boats from across the country to besiege Dhaka indefinitely.

The opposition leaders have said October 23 is very important for the national politics. If the dialogue failed to reach a consensus, political conflict is a must, they said, adding, the government will have to take all responsibilities for any untoward incidents.

The leaders said the government might reject the Hasan issue and meet several other demands. But the opposition will never accept a Hasan-led caretaker government, they asserted.

Sources in the opposition alliance said they are making thousands of oars and poles in different districts and upazilas. Top district and upazila level leaders are supervising their work. The senior leaders have also instructed them to supply several thousands oars and poles to the city in a couple of days.

“We are making all-out preparations through holding meetings with all of our leaders as we doubt the government’s sincerity in accepting our demands,” Hasanul Haque Inu, president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, told The Daily Star.