MOHAMMAD AL-MASUM MOLLA

After holding a series of rallies over the past two and half months, the BNP believes it has been able to change the perception that the party is not strong or organised enough to mobilise people.

The rallies, in which droves of people joined despite many obstacles, showed that when political parties take to the streets over issues of public interest, the programmes succeed.

Another upshot for the BNP is that the peaceful rallies gained considerable global attention this time, according to its leaders.

Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, BNP Standing Committee member Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, said, “The events prove the BNP is organisationally strong enough to hold rallies defying the odds, and can launch a movement even within a short time.”

The rallies also prove that the party believes in peaceful movement and it is the ruling Awami League that resorts to violence and blames the opposition, he said.

“Tens of thousands of leaders, activists, and the general public joined those rallies, which were held in a peaceful and disciplined manner.”

BNP activists have gained confidence by overcoming the obstacles put forth by the ruling party and the government, he said, adding that Saturday’s rally in the capital was the outcome of the previous rallies’ success.

Senior leaders said they had been organising demonstrations at the grassroots to boost the morale of the activists, and the first round of the programmes came to an end with the Dhaka rally.