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The BNP started a rally in Dhaka for the first time in two and a half years to demand Chairperson Khaleda Zia's release from jail and her treatment.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir presided over the afternoon rally that began following the Friday prayers in front of the party’s central office at Nayapaltan, reports bdnews24.com.
BNP leaders used a truck as a temporary podium.
Senior leaders of the party attended the rally.
Earlier, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police allowed the BNP to hold a ‘peaceful rally’ from 2:00pm to 5:00pm on a 23-point condition.
Leaders and workers with festoons and banners in hand poured into the venue, starting at 2.30pm, to join the rally stretching from Fakirapool to Kakrail’s Nightingale intersection.
They also carried portraits of Khaleda and acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.
Separate rallies have also been simultaneously arranged across the country for the same demand, according to BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
The BNP chairperson has been imprisoned since Feb 8, following her conviction in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
The BNP has been demanding her release and treatment in the United Hospital in the city, claiming Khaleda being severely sick.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the rally at a briefing on July 15.
The last time the BNP held a rally in the capital was on January 5, 2016 with Khaleda as the chief guest.