11-party alliance stages long march to Rangpur

The Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance on Saturday staged a long march from Dhaka to Rangpur, pressing the government to implement its eight-point demands, including the referendum verdict, trial of those responsible for the July killings and the Teesta Master Plan.

The programme began with a rally at Manik Mia Avenue in the capital before the convoy proceeded towards Rangpur, with roadside rallies held at different points along the route. 

Addressing a roadside rally in Tangail, Opposition Leader and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman warned that the alliance’s eight-point demands could be expanded or reduced to a single demand depending on the needs of the people.

“We can scrap all our demands and announce a one-point programme if necessary,” he said.

He called upon the people to prepare for further street agitation, saying the alliance could bring the long march to Dhaka in the future if its demands were not addressed.

Speaking at the opening rally in Dhaka, Shafiqur said the alliance had taken to the streets with the demands of the people, rather than for any individual party or group. He said they would return home only after achieving their demands.

At the Gazipur rally, Shafiqur said the long march aimed to make the country free from corruption and oppose what he described as “hegemony”. He also demanded implementation of the referendum verdict, justice for those responsible for the July killings and solutions to the shortages of electricity, fuel, gas and fertiliser.

He also criticised the government for allegedly failing to honour pledges made before the election and said the people’s verdict in the referendum had been ignored.

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“If the July Charter had been implemented, the people’s verdict in the referendum honoured, corruption and extortion stopped and farmers received fertiliser, we would not have needed to hold this long march,” he said.

The Jamaat chief also said the alliance was demanding measures to control the prices of essential commodities, improve law and order and stop corruption, extortion and land grabbing.

“We saw thousands of mothers, sisters and children standing along the roads and greeting us on our way from Dhaka. When mothers and sisters have taken to the streets, the demands will be achieved, Insha Allah,” he said.

The alliance had earlier staged a long march from Dhaka to Chattogram with six demands. The Teesta Master Plan demand was later added, taking the total to eight for the Dhaka-Rangpur programme. The march route includes Gazipur, Tangail, Sirajganj, Bogura and Gaibandha before reaching Rangpur.