Police once again denied permission to Jatiya Oikyafront, the newly formed alliance of BNP and several other parties, to hold a rally in Sylhet on October 24.
The Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) Commissioner Golam Kibria said that the permission was not granted on “security grounds”.
“This application has been denied over the same security ground issue”, the SMP commissioner told The Daily Star, refusing to provide further explanation.
“As you see the situation at Narsingdi, anything might happen,” he added, referring to the raids that took place in two militant hideouts in the district.
He said that the Jatiya Oikyafront had filed another application to hold rally on October 24, despite being denied permission for the rally planned for a day earlier.
Sylhet BNP, on behalf of the alliance, filed an application with the SMP yesterday seeking permission to hold the rally in the field of the Registrar's Office at Bandarbazar area in Sylhet, Ali Ahmed, general secretary of Sylhet district unit of BNP said.
“After an hour or more, they called us and confirmed that permission for the rally would not be given on security grounds”, he said.
Last Wednesday, the Oikyafront filed an application to hold the rally on October 23 but it was denied the next day for the same reason. However, police did not elaborate on what the “security grounds” were.
The Jatiya Oikyafront is an alliance of BNP, Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Prokriya, ASM Abdur Rab's Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Mahmudur Rahman Manna's Nagorik Oikya.
The Oikyafront was formed on October 13 to press for holding the national election under a polls-time neutral government after dissolution of parliament and release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia from jail.
After its formation, the alliance, on October 16, declared to hold its first public rally in Sylhet on October 23 but after their application for it was denied, they declared to hold the rally on October 24.
They planned to offer Fateha at the Shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal (R) and Shah Paran (R) and at the grave of General MAG Osmani on October 24.
- Courtesy: The Daily Star /Oct 21, 2018
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