The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will again enforce a 48-hour fresh road-rail-waterway blockade across the nation starting from Sunday morning, to protest the schedule for the next national election announced by the Election Commission (EC).

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, the party's senior joint secretary, made the announcement at a virtual press briefing on Thursday (November 23) afternoon.

The blockade will be enforced from 6am Sunday (November 26) to 6am on Tuesday (November 28), Rizvi said.

Rizvi claimed 15,600 party leaders and activists, including the 410 in last 24-hours, were arrested since October 28. 

During this period, 384 cases were filed against party leaders and activists, he added.

The fresh blockade programme was announced before the end of the opposition’s ongoing 48-hour blockade which will end at 6:00am on Friday (November 24).

The BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and other like-minded parties observed blockades in six phases to mount pressure on the Awami League government to quit power and hold the next election under a non-partisan administration.

Recently, BNP added hartals to its political programmes after the announcement of the polls schedule by the Election Commission on November 15.

Earlier on November 16, BNP called a 48-hour hartal across the country from November 19 to protest the schedule for the next national election announced by the EC. 

The BNP and allies also observed the dawn to dusk countrywide hartal on October 29 in protest of the police action during the party's Naya Paltan rally.

BDST: 1722 HRS, NOV 23, 2023
MN