<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>A public rally of BNP has begun in front of its Nayapaltan central office with the participation of a huge number of leaders and activists of the party and its associate bodies.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The rally arranged by BNP’s Dhaka south and north city units formally began around 1:55 pm on Wednesday with the recitation from the holy Quran.</div><div><br></div><div>The rally is meant to mount pressure on the government to accept the party’s one-point demand which includes the resignation of the government and the unconditional release of party chief Khaleda Zia for her treatment abroad.</div><div><br></div><div>BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will address the programme as the chief guest with the party’s Dhaka South city unit convener Abdus Salam in chair.</div><div><br></div><div>From the rally, Fakhrul is supposed to announce to hold a grand rally in Dhaka on October 28. He is also likely to give the government the last warning to accept their one-point demand to avoid fierce agitation.</div><div><br></div><div>BNP leaders and activists have started gathering before the party’s Nayapaltan central office with processions carrying banners, festoons, placards, and portraits of the party’s top leaders from different parts of Dhaka since Wednesday morning to join the rally.</div><div><br></div><div>The roads and alleys stretching from Fakirapul to Bijoynagar were crowded with BNP activists, halting traffic in the area. The expanding rally crowd spilled over onto nearby roads streets and spaces.</div><div><br></div><div>Apart from BNP, like-minded political parties and alliances are also arranging separate rallies in different city areas to press home the one-point demand.</div><div><br></div><div>A large number of members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed in the Nayapaltan area to maintain law and order.</div><div><br></div><div>Meanwhile, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi alleged that the government tried to create panic among the BNP leaders and activists by arresting some party leaders and activists on Tuesday night ahead of the rally.</div><div><br></div><div>“But the government could not prevent our leaders and activists from joining the rally. Our rally has already tuned into a human sea,” he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Rizvi claimed that around 60 leaders and activists of their party, including BNP organising secretary Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu and Jatiyatabadi Tanti Dal convener Abul Kalam Azad, were arrested by the police in the capital as of Wednesday morning since Tuesday night. According to UNB reports </div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div><div><br></div>