Tarique asks BNP, associate bodies to intensify political activities

The BNP has decided to remain politically active throughout December, the month of victory, with a range of programmes rather than counter-programmes or security patrols. 

The party's three associate organisations — Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal and Swechchhasebak Dal — will also organise separate programmes throughout the month.

On Sunday, the decision was made at a nearly two-hour meeting between BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and senior leaders of the party and its three associate organisations at the Jatiya Sangsad in Dhaka.

BNP acting secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Shaheed Uddin Chowdhury, Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, Khairul Kabir Khokon, Emran Saleh Prince and Abdus Salam, along with the conveners and member secretaries of Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal, Swechchhasebak Dal and BNP's Dhaka north and south city units, attended the meeting.

The decision came amid various activities by leaders and activists of the activities-banned Awami League and its associate organisations in different parts of the country following ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's announcement that she would return to Bangladesh in December. 

Hasina fled to India amid a student-led mass uprising on 5 August 2024.

Sources at the meeting said Tarique Rahman instructed the BNP and its associate organisations to draw up separate programmes and remain active in the field. 

However, these programmes would not be counter-programmes to those of any other party or group. 

Similarly, they would not organise security patrols in neighbourhoods and localities, as the Awami League used to do in the past in an attempt to thwart BNP programmes.

The sources said the planned activities include protest marches, rallies, sit-in programmes and cultural events. The BNP and its three associate organisations will announce their respective programmes separately. BNP-backed professional organisations have also been instructed to announce separate programmes and remain active in the field.

Asked about the meeting, BNP acting secretary general Rizvi told the media, “Nothing special. We will have programmes similar to those we usually organise during the month of victory.”