BNP halts all events due to Covid-19

BNP has postponed till March 30 all its activities to celebrate the golden jubilee of the independence, considering the present coronavirus situation.

The announcement came from a press conference at the party chairperson's Gulshan office yesterday.

Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain, convener of BNP's golden jubilee celebration committee, told the programme, "The infection rate [of Covid-19] is increasing."

"When the situation improves, we will set new date to implement our programmes," said the party leader.

Mosharraf said, as part of the celebration, the party was scheduled to hold discussion on March 25, rally on March 26 and a gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan on March 30. "We did not get permission for any of those events."

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, as a responsible political party, BNP has postponed all its activities, sensing dangerous impact of coronavirus.

He urged party leaders and activists to wear facemasks and maintain social distance, and encourage people to follow health guidelines to reduce Covid-19 transmission.

The BNP leader also urged the government to suspend all its activities and pay full attention to Covid-19 situation. "The countries across the world took steps on priority basis to contain coronavirus," he said.

Criticising the government, Fakhrul said it failed to create public awareness to follow health directives.

He alleged that the government is celebrating the golden jubilee of the independence keeping the country's people aside.

"I am yet to see any golden jubilee programme. I don't know whether you have seen. Awami League does not have any programme; rather, they [government] have barred us from holding our programmes since March 17," he alleged.

Actually the government could not engage the country's people in its celebration programme.