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Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar has urged participants in Saturday’s Dhaka-Rangpur long march to show utmost patience and restraint and not respond to any provocation.
“If we are harmed or even physically attacked, the success of the long march is more important than taking revenge,” he said at a press briefing at the party’s central office in Dhaka on Friday.
The long march, organised by Jamaat and 10 other parties, is scheduled to begin from Manik Mia Avenue at 7:00am on Saturday, with the vehicle procession leaving for Rangpur around 8:00am.
Parwar said preparations had been completed across the districts and metropolitan areas along the route. Roadside rallies are planned at Bhogra bypass in Gazipur, Nagar Jalpai in Tangail, Hatikumrul in Sirajganj, Matidali airport intersection in Bogura and Palashbari in Gaibandha. The programme will end with a rally at Rangpur Zilla School ground.
He said more than 1,000 vehicles were expected to join the procession and called for cooperation from the government, police, civil administration, intelligence agencies, traffic authorities, political parties and the public to ensure a peaceful programme.
The alliance is demanding implementation of the referendum verdict, trial of those responsible for the July 2024 mass killings, resolution of electricity, fuel, gas and fertiliser shortages, measures to contain rising prices, an end to corruption, extortion and illegal occupation, improvements in law and order, an end to partisan control of state institutions, and implementation of the Teesta Mega Plan. Recent reports describe the programme as an eight-point charter after the inclusion of northern Bangladesh-related demands.
Parwar said the Teesta demand had been added following calls from people in northern Bangladesh and decisions taken at a meeting of the alliance’s top leaders.
He urged the government to overcome any hesitation over the Teesta Mega Plan and take necessary diplomatic and administrative measures to implement it.
Parwar also claimed that large numbers of people would gather along the Dhaka-Rangpur highway to show support for the procession. He sought public understanding for possible disruption caused by the long march and appealed to the authorities to ensure that the peaceful programme faced no obstruction.
Addressing party activists and supporters, he said they should not respond to provocations and should demonstrate discipline and restraint throughout the programme.
The leaders also sought cooperation from the media and said arrangements would be made to facilitate journalists covering the long march.
