Bangladesh’s Opposition party starts non-cooperation movement, calls for boycott of polls

After a series of blockades and hartals in Bangladesh, the opposition party BNP called for a non-cooperation movement against the incumbent government from Wednesday (Nov 20), appealing to the country's citizens to boycott the January 7 election.

The decision was taken by the party’s acting chief, Tarique Rahman, said BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, while speaking in a virtual press conference on Wednesday afternoon. 

Rizvi appealed to the citizens and the administration to stop co-operating with the government. 

He made specific requests to officers and employees who were given the election duties to not carry out their responsibilities, adding that the government has already compiled a list of election winners and future MPs. 

Moreover, Rizvi further appealed to the people to not pay their taxes or utility bills from now on.

Rizvi further appealed to people to consider if the deposition of money in banks was any more secure, as “the government has done most of its plundering through the banking sector.”

The BNP further appealed to its leaders and activists not to make further appearances in what was characterised by the party as "false" cases.

The BNP and its allies also called for the countrywide road-rail-waterway blockade on December 24 as they appealed for the non-party caretaker government system's restoration. 

A mass campaign will be conducted by the opposition parties on December 21, 22 and 23, extending their support to the boycott of the election and the non-cooperation movement.

This will be the 11th blockade programme carried out by the opposition parties since October 31.

The blockade will start at 6:00 am (local time) on Sunday and end at 6:00 pm (local time) the same day.

Meanwhile, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday started her election campaign in the eastern Sylhet district amid calls for non-cooperation and an election boycott from the opposition parties.

“Not participating in elections is their (opposition parties) democratic right. But they are creating fear with arson attacks in the name of movement and destroying government property – property that belongs to the people,” she said.