Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Thursday said BNP wants to hold its rally at Naya Paltan on December 10 by blocking road in the apprehension of low turnout and with the intention of creating chaos.
"From the very beginning, BNP knows that the number of people in their rally will not be more than 30,000 to 50,000. But, it is not appropriate to hold rally by blocking a busy road," he said.
"They are insisting on holding rally in the area which proves that they are in fear of low turnout. And it is easy to create chaos on the street. They want to hold the rally there for these two reasons," the minister told reporters in front of his office at Secretariat in the capital.
Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary, said it is their nefarious intention of holding the rally in front of their office in Naya Palatan. A huge rally causes public sufferings, he added. He said the government can give permission to hold the rally, but it cannot give permission to hold any rally aiming at creating anarchies.
Earlier, the United Nations (UN) resident coordinator Gwyn Lewis paid a courtesy call on the minister at his office. About the meeting, Hasan said Lewis visited here for a courtesy call. "She also invited me for a seminar on mass media role in protection of human rights organized by them marking the World Human Rights Day," he added.
He said discussions were also held on other issues, including environment protection, COP-27 and mass media.
Lewis said that she came in Bangladesh six months ago and visited the information minister for a courtesy call. "I also invited the minister to attend a programme marking the World Human Rights Day. We also discussed about mass media, climate change and the results of recently ended COP-27," she added.
Senior Human Rights Advisor of the resident coordinator office Huma Khan and Director, Public Relations of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry Mir Akram Uddin, among others, were present in the meeting.