Shawdesh Desk:

The ongoing anti-government movement of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) seems to have lost its tempo mainly due to the arrest of some central leaders, including Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, sending the party on the back foot and demoralising its rank and file.

Nine big divisional public rallies staged outside Dhaka had rejuvenated BNP leaders and activists and boosted their morale. They had also expected similar programmes to be announced from the party’s December 10 Dhaka rally to keep up their high spirit.

However, BNP failed to come up with any such programme from the mass rally and so, the party men’s morale has dipped.

“Listening to our party’s top leaders before December 10, we’d thought that there would be tougher programmes to put the government in trouble but it seems BNP is now on the back foot. It’s frustrating,” Faruk Hossain, a Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal leader from Santhia upazila of Pabna district, told the Daily Sun.

At their Dhaka divisional rally, BNP Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain announced that the party would hold mass procession across the country on December 24.

However, the party later rescheduled the programme for the capital for December 30 due to the national council session of ruling Awami League. However, the mass procession will be held at district and metropolis levels on December 24. Talking to the Daily Sun about the party’s next course of action, BNP Standing Committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy said they will announce more programmes after December 30. “Programmes will continue until our target is achieved,” he said.

Asked whether they have any plan to go for tougher programmes after December 30, he said, “Wait until December 30 to know about our next course of action. It can’t be said right now whether any tougher programmes will be announced later.”

BNP insiders said the party earlier planned to go for tougher action programmes, including paralysing Dhaka city, through creating mass gathering but they have failed.

After big rallies in nine divisional cities across the country, the party leaders and activists got revamped and they thought that the party might give an ultimatum to the government to meet their demands, including resignation of the government and permanent release of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

However, the party leaders and activists got frustrated seeing that the party retreated from its stance and neither gave any ultimatum nor any tougher action programme from the Dhaka rally.

“The announcement of soft programmes like mass procession to realise our demands has made the party men frustrated. At the same time, it was seen that BNP is in a tight corner following the arrest of senior leaders,” a central leader said, wishing not to be named.

Talking to the Daily Sun, a few central leaders of BNP said the party high command should have gone for a one-point movement from the December 10 rally but instead of it, Mosharraf Hossain announced a 10-point demand that has demoralised the party men.

BNP sources said the arrest of the party’s central leaders, including Mirza Fakhrul and Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas, has pushed the party on the back foot.

At the same time, the party high-ups fear that if the central leaders are not released from jail immediately, their ongoing movement will stumble and it will be difficult to intensify the movement further by reviving the morale of party men again.

“If more central leaders are arrested, it’ll be difficult to run the party’s normal activities. At the same time, it’ll be difficult to go for a strong movement against the incumbent government with any harsher programme,” another central leader told the Daily Sun, preferring anonymity.

BNP insiders said the party has been affected seriously due to the arrest of the party’s central leaders, especially Mirza Fakhrul and Abbas, as the party is now facing leadership crisis in the absence of its Chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.

In the absence of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain is now playing the role of the party’s spokesperson, Zahir Uddin Swapon, convener of BNP Media Cell, told the Daily Sun.

BNP sources said though they earlier planned to paralyse the capital with the presence of its leaders and activists during the December 10 public rally, they could not do so in the absence of the top leaders.

“The existing leaders didn’t dare create any big gathering in the city’s Golapbagh ground as they were in fear of arrest. Actually after the arrest of the top leaders, the leaders have become afraid of being arrested too. That’s why they can’t take any tough decision,” a central leader said.

BNP insiders said in the absence of Mirza Fakhrul, the party has become weak and its current leaders are worried about whether they will be able to carry out their next course of action, especially mass procession, successfully.

Talking to the Daily Sun, BNP Vice-Chairman Mohammad Shahjahan claimed that the party is not weak even after the arrest of its top leaders. “Our party isn’t on the back foot. We’ll intensify our movement gradually and go for a one-point movement to ensure the fall of the government in phases.”