The three-day blockade announced by right wing Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its radical key ally Bangladesh Jamaat e Islami ended on Thursday with more killing, attacking police and torching private and public vehicles across the country.
Conscious citizens, closely observing the frequent mob attacks on innocent people and police forces, rejected such destructive blockade programmes. Many of them took to streets protesting the BNP-Jamaat sponsored continued atrocities.
Despite a complete failure of the first round of the blockade programme, BNP led anti-liberation alliance on Thursday announced a second round of their destructive politics to destablise the elected government.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary general of BNP announced the two-day countrywide blockade starting from November 5.
Within a few moments of BNP’s announcement its allies also announced a two-day countrywide blockade starting on Sunday demanding resignation of the government and general elections under a neutral interim government which is totally unconstitutional.
The blockade programme called by the BNP-Jamaat may see a short break as BNP is likely to observe the November 7, the day is known as - National Revolution and Solidarity Day, which led to release of the then army chief Ziaur Rahman in 1975.
BNP Acting Chairman Tareque Rahman, who is in self exile in London after being convicted in several criminal cases including the deadly grenade attack case, has reportedly given his opinion in favor of continuing the descructive blockade programmes.
As he does not live in Dhaka, he has no idea about the present reality of Bangladesh. He regularly receives extortions from various businessmen and if there is any tougher movement against the government, he increases the amount of extortions. Such programmes by BNP has no benefit but increases public suffering and in many cases loss of public properties and even loss of innocent lives.
But all the BNP leaders and workers, who live in the country, have to facing many ground realities. Most of the common people have already rejected being frustrated by such destructive politics involving fierce mob attacks.
The blockade programme totally collapsed on the second day. There was heavy traffic jam on the roads from the second day of the blockade.
No central leaders, even presidents and secretaries of the district units were present in on the streets to pursue picketing in favour of their blockade programme.
Very few BNP-Jamaat caders suddenly came to the streets and carried out the destructive activities in some parts of the country. As a result, common people have a more negative perception about BNP now. Not only that, as a result, the weaknesses of BNP-Jamaat politics is also being exposed.
Several leaders of BNP have been arrested while hundreds BNP and its front organization leaders had to go on hiding to avoid arrest. The grass root level workers ran away from their houses, also to evade arrests.
In the current situation, it is almost impossible for BNP to oust the government by agitation or to meet the demands of the caretaker government. And that is why many in BNP feel that now they have to take a strategic position and announce going to the polls as part of the movement.
Sources say that Tareque Rahman does not agree with such a formula. His aim is to create anarchy through continuous agitation, vandalism and sabotage. But in creating this situation, many people think that BNP is doing more harm than gaining anything.
