By Muhammad Shoaib
Bangladeshi main opposition party BNP and the biggest Islamic party in Bangladesh Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami started a 48-hour strike in favor of non-cooperation movement including boycott of elections and resignation of government and neutral caretaker government. This program will start from 6 am on Saturday and will continue till 6 am on Monday.
Today is the day before the twelfth national parliament election, and the national parliament election will be held at the next day.
Meanwhile, a fire occurred in a bus in the capital and Benapole Express train in Gopibagh area. The fire service reported that four people were killed and several others were burnt in the fire. However, their names were not immediately known. Eight fire service units are working to control the fire. The fire spread in four compartments of the express train. The train was returning from Benapole to Dhaka with passengers.
The night before the start of the straike, the leaders and activists of BNP and its subsidiary organizations, including the Chhatra Dal, marched in the capital. On the other hand Eden College Chhatra Dal convenor and central Chhatra Dal joint general secretary Rehena Akhter Shirin, along with three people, were arrested by the police from the rally in support of the strike called by BNP. The other two are Mohammadpur Police Station Chhatra Dal leader Md Parvez Khan and Habibullah Bahar College Chhatra Dal worker Tanveer Apurba.
In the evening, a procession in support of the strike was taken out in Moghbazar area of the capital under the leadership of Chhatra Dal vice-president Aktaruzzaman Akhtar and Nashir Uddin Nashir. Nasir said that they were detained from there.
He said, when we held a torch march in Moghbazar area in support of the strike called to demand restoration of democracy and stop dummy elections, BCL attacked us from behind. Then the police arrested three people.