Leaders and activists of the 11-party alliance faced police resistance while marching towards the Secretariat in protest at the fuel and gas crisis, “phantom” power bills, a worsening law-and-order situation and the unchecked price rise of daily essentials. Outside the Secretariat, opposition leader and Jamaat-e-Islami chief Dr Shafiqur Rahman said: “We have not come to disrespect anyone; we have come with the people’s demands.”
When the march reached the Secretariat at about 12:45pm on Thursday, police stopped it. He then gave a brief speech there, saying: “Today the same programme is being held not just in Dhaka but across Bangladesh. We believe in peaceful movement. We have come to the Secretariat only to convey the people’s demands to their representatives.”
Calling on a responsible government representative to come and receive the demands, the opposition leader said: “If you want to stop this march, a minister in charge or his representative must come here from inside. We want to hand over the demands on behalf of the people. If they succeed in implementing the people’s demands, we will thank them. But if they fail, we will not sit idle. Movement after movement, programme after programme, will continue.”
He added: “We have not come to disrespect anyone. We want to hand our demands to the government’s representative with respect. For this, we will wait here for 10 minutes. If no one comes within that time, we will announce our next programme.”
Addressing police officers, the Jamaat chief said: “At your request, we have stopped here for now. We ask you to convey our message to the government’s proper authorities.”
Leaders and activists of various parties in the alliance took part in the programme, called in protest at the energy crisis, extra power bills, the worsening law-and-order situation and rising prices.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report