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Thousands of BNP activists have converged on Dhaka’s Naya Paltan as the opposition party prepares for a ‘grand rally' under its 'one-point' campaign to topple the government.
Activists started gathering outside the party's central offices in the morning as anti-Hasina chants echoed through the streets ahead of the rally, scheduled to start at 2 pm on Friday.
BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas will preside over the event, while Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul will speak as the chief guest.
Police have put a halt to traffic passing through Naya Paltan as the crowd began to grow gradually, according to bdnews24.com.
The BNP has raised a temporary stage on trucks faced by rows of chairs. A red carpet decorated the truck beds, while seats were also reserved for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who is living the UK with his family.
A large display board has set up on one side of the stage. As many as 150 loudspeakers have been installed in Fakirapool, Paltan, Kakrain and nearby areas in keeping with the limits set by police.
Two separate stages have also been erected on trucks parked side by side for journalists and cultural activists.
The BNP and its affiliate organisations are set to hold simultaneous rallies on Friday as part of the latest phase of their anti-government campaign, which started on Jul 12. Previously on Jul 18-19, they marched across different parts of the country.
“We have been saying from the start that the grand rally on Jul 28 will see a huge turnout. It has no limits. No boundaries can confine the people," said Amanunallah Aman, convenor of the BNP's Dhaka Metropolitan North unit.
“People deprived of their rights have shown that this morning,” he added, referring to the horde of BNP activists who have gathered for the event.
Most of the people attending the rally have come from outside the capital, according to Abdus Salam, convener of Dhaka Metropolitan South BNP.
“There is hardly any space to even stand on the Paltan roads. When people arrive in droves from Dhaka wards, the crowd will expand to Motijheel, Shantinagar and Bijoynagar,” Salam said.
Ahead of the BNP rally, the police are maintaining a strong presence in the Nightingale Restaurant area and the Fakirapool intersection of Kakrail. Consequently, the number of law enforcers near the party's central offices in Naya Paltan was relatively sparse.