Staff Correspondent

BNP on Thursday called a 48-hour nationwide hartal from Saturday morning to protest the 12th parliamentary election, slated for 7 January.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came up with the announcement at a virtual press briefing.

He said the hartal will begin at 6am on Saturday and end at 6am on Monday.

Earlier at another virtual press briefing, Rizvi said their party will bring out processions and conduct mass contacts across the country on Friday in protest against the election.

He said their programme is meant to drum up public support in favour of the party’s call to boycott the Januray-7 election.

Rizvi said other like-minded opposition parties will also observe a similar programme on Friday, just two days before the election day.

Rizvi called upon the opposition leaders and workers to make the programme a success with their spontaneous support.

Earlier on Monday, the party extended their mass contact and leaflet distribution programme until Thursday (today).

On December 24, the party announced a three-day mass contact and leaflet distribution programme beginning on December 26. Later, the programme was extended thrice.

BNP along with nearly three dozen opposition political parties have been carrying out a simultaneous movement since December 10 last year to force the current government to quit and hold the 12th parliamentary election under a non-party neutral administration.

BNP’s movement lost its momentum following clashes with law enforcers centring the party’s grand rally on October 28 as many senior leaders, including its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, were arrested while many others went into hiding in the face of a crackdown by the law enforcers.

However, BNP and like-minded parties enforced countrywide blockades for 23 days in 12 phases and hartals for five days in four spells since October 29.

Finally, the opposition party came up with the call for a non-cooperation movement on December 20.