*Party men still don’t know what to do, what to follow
*They’ve been asked to join rally without specific directives
*Many fear confrontation 

The grass roots leaders and activists of BNP have found themselves in the dark and confusion as they still know nothing about the party’s strategy centring on the 28 October rally in Dhaka and other programmes to be announced later to realise their one-point demand for resignation of the government.

They said they have been asked to come to Dhaka on 28 October, without specifying what they should do and what will happen afterwards.

The party sources said it has planned to hold a ‘mammoth’ rally in Dhaka on the day to show off their strength to force the government to step down for paving the way for the next general election to be held under a non-party caretaker government.

They have also planned to announce tougher agitation programmes from the rally to press for their demand.

Talking to the Daily Sun, a number of BNP leaders from union and upazila levels in different districts said they are in dark about what the actual tactics of their party centring on the rally are.

They said they assume that the party may announce sit-ins on the spot or go for other programmes from the next day.

However, they were not informed of anything in this regard, the grass roots leaders said.

At the same time, they do not know when they have to arrive in Dhaka and where they will stay to join the rally, saying many have no financial ability and no place to stay overnight in the capital.

“We’re in dark about the party’s strategy. We haven’t received any specific directive. Our upazila and district-level leaders held meetings recently but they couldn’t tell us anything clearly about what will be the situation and party’s strategy. But the leaders asked us to attend the rally anyway,” Md Lalon Hossain, a union-level Jubo Dal leader from Sirajganj Sadar upazila, told the Daily Sun.

Md Faruq Hossain, another leader of the party from Santhia upazila in Pabna district, said they have been asked to attend the rally but have not got any specific instructions about the rally and the next course of action.
 
In this situation, sources said, panic has gripped the grass roots leaders and activists of the opposition party over the rally as they fear a confrontational situation. 

Asked about the rally, BNP Vice-Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu told the Daily Sun on Sunday that they have planned to hold the biggest-ever rally in the country’s history on 28 October. “From the rally, the government will get the message of its fall. They’ll realise that they can no longer stay in power.”

Talking to the Daily Sun, many grass roots leaders and activists said due to lack of specific directives and preparations, they could not attend sit-ins at the entry points of Dhaka city on 29 July last, which ended in failure and was mired by violence.

They said they are now worried about the consequences of the planned rally. At the same time, they have apprehension about whether the rally will be held at all.

“I’ve been assigned by the party to hold meetings with the leaders of Barishal region about the 28 October rally. But the directive from the high command is not clear. I hope people will join the rally overcoming all the obstacles,” BNP Joint Secretary General Majibar Rahman Sarwar told the Daily Sun.

BNP sources said the party has formed divisional coordination committees comprised of senior leaders to hold preparatory meetings in districts for the rally and the committees are now visiting districts and holding preparatory meetings.

Talking to the Daily Sun, Habibur Rahman Habib, convener of Pabna district BNP, said the leaders and activists from thana units and a few from union units may join the rally. 

“However, there’s no concrete directive from the party high command yet about the rally. But we’re taking adequate preparations to ensure maximum participation in the rally,” he added.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said they sent a letter to Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Saturday informing the authorities that their grand rally will be held in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office on 28 October.

The party sources said it has planned to go for a tougher agitation from the rally and they are likely to announce march towards important state offices like Ganabhaban and secretariat, transport blockade and siege to the state institutions to compel the government to resign.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press conference at the party’s headquarters on Sunday said they have not asked their party men to sit on the streets from the rally.

He expressed the hope that leaders and activists of BNP will be able to come to the rally from across the country without any obstacles and raise their voices in favour of their demand.

Mirza Fakhrul at a rally in the capital on 18 October announced that the party would hold a grand rally in the capital on 28 October, saying their grand march will begin from there to unseat government.