Ganatantra Moncho announces sit-in protest on Jan 11

The Ganatantra Moncho, an alliance of seven political parties, on Friday announced a three-hour public sit-in protest in Dhaka and other divisional cities on January 11 as part of the simultaneous movement of the opposition parties and alliances to unseat the current government.

Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Babul, the convener of Bhasani Anusari Parishad and also a leader of the alliance, announced this programme from their mass procession today.

He said they will hold mass sit-ins on January 11 in all divisions, demanding the release of all the top opposition leaders, including Begum Khaleda Zia, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Mirza Abbas, Pratim Das, who were imprisoned in "fabricated, false" cases.

The sit-in in Dhaka will be held from 11am to 2am in front of the Jatiya Press Club, Babul added.

Earlier in the day, the Ganatantra Moncho brought out a mass procession from the Jatiya Press Club around 11am.

The procession ended at the Nightingale intersection in Kakrail after parading different roads through the Paltan intersection and Bijoy Nagar Road.

Meanwhile, Biplobi Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Haque said, "No national election is possible under this government. Also, no fair election is possible in the future while this government is in charge. That is why we said this government should be forced to resign before the election. And after that, an interim government will have to be formed. There is no alternative to that."

"The BNP announced a 10-point demand; we came up with 14 points. A liaison committee has already been formed. At a discussion yesterday, we decided that these points would be the basis of our simultaneous movement, which we will present to the people as soon as possible."

Ganasanghati Andolan Chief Coordinator Junaid Saki said the 2018 election is a disgraceful day for the nation. "This government has joepardised the state by looting votes in the dark of the night."

The BNP and other opposition parties and alliances are observing December 30 as a "Black Day," marking the anniversary of the 11th parliamentary election held on this day in 2018.

Around 33 like-minded political parties, including the BNP, are holding mass procession programmes in the capital today to push for their 10-point demand, including the resignation of the government, dissolution of parliament, transfer of power to a non-partisan caretaker government and formation of a new election commission.