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AL hunger strike postponed for SCBA polls To be observed on May 5 in Dhaka only

Staff Correspondent
The Awami League (AL) yesterday postponed its token hunger strike scheduled for tomorrow in all 64 districts ’due to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election".
AL sources said they will observe the programme announced earlier only in the capital on May 5.
The decision came at an emergencypresidium meeting last night at party's acting President Zillur Rahman's Gulshan residence in the capital.
The hunger-strike programme was organised to press home the demand for the release of detained AL President Sheikh Hasina. The programme has been postponed due to the SCBA election scheduled for tomorrow and the next day across the country, AL acting General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told journalists after a two-hour-long meeting.
"The party presidium decided unanimously to postpone the programme at the request of the SCBA leaders," said Ashraf.
Sources, however, said the programme has been postponed following Hasina's directives.
A secretary-level meeting of the party was also held yesterday at Hasina's political office in Dhanmondi to discuss strategies for making the hunger-strike programme a success.
AL Law Affairs Secretary advocate Shahara Khatun. who went to the special court on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises to meet Hasina before joining the meeting, informed the party leaders about the party chiefs instructions to postpone the programme due to the SCBA election.
Since party secretaries do not have the authority to make any decision on the matter, the presidium meeting was called.
Sources said the AL presidium also considered the fact that the party s district unit leaders did not get permission from local administrations to observe the programme under the state of emergency.
At the secretary-level meeting chaired by Syed Ashraf, most of the leaders criticised the party's presidium members for deciding to launch such an important programme. They reached a consensus that all important future programmes should be decided at the party's central working committee
The leaders at the meeting also criticised presidium members for their contradictory statements over taking part in the elections.
Asked whether there was any pressure from the government to postpone the programme, Zillur Rahman said there was no pres-sure.
The programme was postponed a day after the AL senior leaders instructed the party's district units to observe the programme "strategically" without violating the Emergency Power Rules, 2007. They were instructed to observe the programme either at the district press clubs or on the bar council premises or inside religion establishments including mosques.
Presidium members Amir Hossain Amu, AbdufRazzak, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta and Motia Chowdhury attended the meeting.
Awami League is to hand over around 25 lakh signatures to Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed today demanding the release of Hasina.
The signatures were collected in the capital during the last 20 days.
Leaders of Dhaka city AL unit, which began the signature collection on April 7, will gather at the party s central office on Bangabandhu Avenue before going to the Chief Adviser's Office.
The signatures will be submitted under the leadership of city AL unit acting President MA Aziz and acting General Secretary Qamrul Islam.
"We have collected around 25 lakh signatures so far which is 70 percent of the total voters in Dhaka," Qamrul Islam told The Daily Star last night.