The opposition BNP yesterday said it would announce next agitation programme at the end of the 48-hour non-stop hartal to protect people's right to vote while the ruling Awami League urged the opposition to give up politics of confrontation and hartal for the sake of strengthening democracy.

BNP also termed the hartal a success and thanked people for observing it spontaneously while AL said people have rejected the hartal.

Briefing journalists at the party office, BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir demanded resignation of the home minister for attacks on the party leaders and activists and for the barbaric police assault on Opposition ChiefWhip Zainul Abdin Farroque.

He also demanded immediate release of the arrested leaders and workers.

AL Joint Secretary General Mahbubul Alam Hanif, however, blamed Farroque for misbehaving with police and said he [Farroque] might have suffered injury during a scuffle with law enforcers.

The AL leader said, "How Farroque behaved with the law enforcers being the opposition chief whip and a parliament member is too sad. He behaved with the law enforcers as if they were petty criminals".

He urged the opposition leaders to maintain "proper behaviour" in speeches.

Hanif, also special assistant to the prime minister, was speaking to the media at the party office.

Mirza Fakhrul said, "The government has let loose repression to obstruct democratic movement. We are on hartal and the next programme will follow the ongoing hartal. The home minister must quit".

The BNP leader said they will seek legal measures against the police attack on Farroque.

Nearly 550 people were wounded at the first day of the non-stop hartal and more than 400 leaders and workers were arrested across the country, said Mirza Fakhrul.

The party leaders Nazrul Islam Khan, Dhaka city Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Abdullah Al Noman, and Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, among others, were present at the briefing.

Hanif said, "BNPcalled the hartal only to saveTarique Rahman and Koko, and Jamaat called hartal to protect war criminals who have been arrested on charges of crimes against humanity".

AL leaders AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Ahmed Hossain, BM Mojammel Haque, Mrinal Kanti Das, Faridunnahar Laily, and Nazrul Islam Babu, among others, attended the briefing.