AL
calls 8-hr hartal in city for Sunday
Awami League has called a
eight-hour long harta in the capital from 6 am to 2 pm on
Sunday, the day scheduled to pass the much- talked-about
bill titled, "The Father of the Nation's Family
Security Act (Repeal), 2001 in the parliament.This is the
first tougher action programme of its kind announced by
Awami League since June 1996, when the party took over
power. However, Awami League President and former Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina, when in power promised, repeatedly
that her party would not enforced hartal even if it was in
opposition.
Announcing the hartal along
with a three-day long agitation programme in protest of
the government's move to scrap the Father of Nation's
Family Security Act, 2001, which provided life-long state
security to Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, the two
surviving daughters of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,
Awami League General Secretary Zillur Rahman said they
were "against observing hartal as their
commitment", made earlier, but the government had
compelled them to call hartal as the lives of
Bangabandhu's daughters came under threat "because of
BNP-Jammat cabinet's ill-motivated decision."
"The cancellation of
the act will only push the Father of Nation's two loving
daughters to extreme insecurity and endanger their
lives...We can't keep silence sitting at our home, safely.
We are ready to give our blood to save the life of Father
of Nation's daughters," he said while addressing a
protest rally on Wednesday in front of the Awami League
central office at Bangabandhu Avenue in the city.
Earlier, Awami League
Central Working Committee on Wednesday morning at an
emmergency meeting with Abdus Samad Azad in the chair took
decision to observe a eight-hour long hartal on Sunday.The
party has also chalked out a three-day long agitation
programme against the government's initiative to repeal
the special security act.The programme included holding
rallies and bringing out protest processions in the city
by Chhatra League on November 29, Mohila Awami League and
Sechasebak League on November 30 and Jatiya Sramik League
and Bangladesh Krishak League on December 1.A joint torch
procession will also be brought out in the evening after
Iftar hours on Saturday.
The hour-long ALCWC
meeting, in a resolution, strongly condemned and blasted
the cabinet for approving the bill seeking repeal of the
Father of Nation's Family Security Bill, 2001.The meeting
observed that the BNP-Jmmaat cabinet decision was a slap
on human values and reflection of political vengeance. Out
of 256 members of ALCWC, some 60 members, including
front-ranking Zillur Rahman, Dr SA Malek, Sajeda Chowdhury,
Abdur Razzak, Tofael Ahmed, Abdul Jalil, Mohammad Nasim,
ASHK Sadeq, Sheikh Selim, Abdul Mannan and Mostafa Jalal
Mohiuddin attended the meeting.Later, city unit of Awami
League also held a protest rally at Bangabandhu Avenue in
the afternoon with City Mayor Mohammad Hanif in the chair.
Awami League Presidium
Members Abdus Samad Azad, General Secretary Zillur Rahman,
Sajeda Chowdhury, Abdur Razzak, Tofael Ahmed Abdul Jalil,
Mohammad Nasim and Matia Chowdhury, among others,
addressed the rally.Addressing the rally, Abdus Samad Azad
alleged that the 'BNP- Jamaat' government had been ruling
the country as like as Pakistani style.Terming the
government as "vote thief and shameless," he
said they failed to ensure security of the country's
people. "So it is better for the government to quit
the power as quickly as possible," he said.In this
regard, he urged the partymen to launch a tougher movement
to force the government to quit power as soon as possible.
Blasting the cabinet
decision, Zillur Rahman said it was an act of sheer
vengeance that would only encourage the killers of
Bangabandhu and endanger the life of both Sheikh Hasina
and Sheikh Rehana, the two surviving daughters of the
Father of Nation."This is nothing but reflection of
dirty mindset and political vendetta by those in power.
The government is inspiring the killers of August 15,1975
for hatching new plots to kill the two survivors who were
fortunately saved from the 1975's killing of Bangabandhu's
family," he alleged.In this connection, he alleged
that both President Zia and Khaleda Zia governments
refused to annul the Indemnity Ordinance that protected
the killers.
"Khaleda Zia, who are
the beneficiary of August 15 massacre rewarded and
rehabilitated the killers in different ways and is still
trying to save the killers, most of them are hatching
conspiracy remaining abroad at large," he said.Sajeda
Chowdhury said the last parliament passed the act
considering the dirty conspiracy and open threat by the
self proclaimed killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib and
their agents on Father of the Nation's two daughters.After
ending of the rally, a procession was brought out. The
processionists chanted various slogans against the cabinet
decision and in favour of observing Sunday's hartal,
parading different streets, including Topkhana Road.
