Awami League (AL)-led 14-party opposition alliance begins marches from different parts of the country towards Dhaka today for their February 5 mass gathering at Paltan Maidan in the capital demanding resignation of the government.
The processions will begin from four points today and nine other places tomorrow.
The 13 processions by buses and trucks will join in six separate marches and enter the city through Jatrabari , Tongi, Keraniganj, and Savar.
Opposition leaders will address the February 5 gathering at Paltan Maidan, from where they will announce their next agitation programmes.
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Before it, the opposition men will hold some 20 rallies in the areas that the marches are to cover.
Senior leaders of the opposition alliance comprising the AL, leftleaning 11-party alliance, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) and National Awami Party (NAP) will lead the processions from their areas while local leaders and workers will join them.
Opposition leaders yesterday alleged that the government is using its administration and party cadres to foil the February 5 long march programme.
"In many places our grassroots leaders are being arrested and BNP-Jamaat cadres are threatening people not to join the marches," AL General Secretary and 14-party coordinator Abdul Jalil said.
He said local leaders of the opposition have already been directed to announce tougher agitation programmes wherever the government would try to thwart the processions between February 2 and 5.
LONG MARCH ROUTES
Opposition men will start from Teknaf tomorrow at 10:00am and after marching through Cox's Bazar town and Chakoria, they will hold a rally at Patia in Chittagong district at 3:00pm.
The opposition men will stay in Chittagong at night and at 10:00am the next day, they will begin march from Alankar intersection towards Comilla through Sitakundu, Mirersarai and Feni. At around 3:00pm, there will be a rally at Comilla. On February 5 they will march towards Dhaka at 10:00am.
Opposition leaders Ataur Rahman Khan Kaiser, Chittagong City Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Bimal Biswas, Zahirul Islam, Moinuddin Khan Badal and Dilip Barua will lead the march.
Another march will start from north Tentulia today at 10:00am and after parading through Panchagar, Boda, Thakurgoan and Birganj, the procession will reach Dinajpur at 4:00pm where they will hold a rally.
Tomorrow the procession will reach Bogra and hold a rally there at 4:00pm. On February 4, the opposition men will march through Sirajganj, Tangail bypass, Mirzapur, Kaliakair and hold a rally at Tongi at 4:00pm.
Another procession will start from Sonamasjid in Chapainwabganj tomorrow morning and hold a rally at Natore at 4:00pm after parading through Chapainwabganj, Godabari and Rajshahi.
On February 4, the procession will start from Bonpara in Natore and gather at Sirajganj where the alliance men will join the march.
Abdul Jalil MP, Abdul Mannan, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Asaduzzaman Noor MP, Fazle Hossain Badsha, Pankaj Bhattacharya, Abdus Samad and Zakir Hossain will lead the march on this route.
Another procession from Moulvibazar will march through
Shayestaganj and Madhabpur tomorrow and hold a rally at Brahmanbaria. They will hold a rally at Narsingdi at 4:00pm on February 4 after marching through Bhairab, Raipura and Shibpur.
Suranjit Sengupta, Dewan Farid Gazi, Sultan Mohammad Monsur Ahmed, Sylhet Mayor Badar Uddin Ahmad Kamran, Anisur Rahman Mallik, Altaf Hossain, Lokman Ahmed and Arash Ali will lead the march.
A procession will start from Mongla in Khulna this morning and in the afternoon it will hold a rally at Jessore after parading the highways of Bagerhat, Khalishpur, Fulbari Gate, Fultola and Noapara.
Tomorrow, the procession will go through Kaliganj, Jhenidah, Magura, Madhukhali and hold a rally in Faridpur at 4:00pm. Passing through Goalanda, Manikganj and Dhamrai, the march will reach Savar on February 4 and start towards Dhaka the next day.
A procession from Meherpur today will hold a rally at Kushtia after marching through Gangni and Amla (in Mirpur). Tomorrow the procession will hold a rally at Rajbari after parading through Kumarkhali, Khoksha and Pangsha. They will join with the procession from Mongla at Goalanda intersection on February 4.
Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, ASHK Sadique, Muhammad Nasim, Mofizul Islam Khan Kamal, Sharif Nurul Ambia and Enamul Haque will lead the procession towards Dhaka.
A procession from Haluaghat will start tomorrow and hold a rally in Mymensing after marching through Phulpur, Taraganj and Shambhuganj. It will merge with the Tongi rally on February 4 after parading through Trishal, Bhaluka, Sreepur and Gazipur.
Three separate processions from three sub-routes will start from Susangdurgapur, Sherpur and Jamalpur tomorrow and join the Mymensing rally tomorrow.
Matia Chowdhury, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Syed Ashraful Islam, Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, Saifuddin Ahmed Manik, Azizur Rahman and Ayub Ali Khan will lead the demonstration.
Opposition men starting from Barguna today will hold a rally at Patuakhali at 4:00pm. After crossing Bakharganj, Rahmatpur, Isladi (Uzirpur), Durghata, they will hold a rally at Madaripur at 4:00pm tomorrow. After passing the night there, the procession will march to Keraniganj in Dhaka through Shariatpur, Zajira and Mawa on February 4.
Rashed Khan Menon, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Kazi Zafarullah, Mukul Bose, Syed Abul Hossain, Abdul Mannan Khan, Col (rtd) Faruk Khan, Mostafa Mohsin Montu, Habibur Rahman and Abdus Sattar will lead the march.