Bangladesh opposition launches massive 246-kilometre motor convoy rally

Nearly 1,000 vehicles set out from Dhaka on Saturday as Bangladesh’s 11-party opposition coalition launched a 246-kilometre motor convoy to Chattogram. The procession began at Motijheel’s Shapla Chattar around 8 a.m. and is due to end with a major rally at the historic Laldighi Maidan.

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman and other senior leaders formally opened the march. The coalition includes the National Citizen Party, a movement that emerged from recent student-led uprisings, and the Amar Bangladesh Party.

Speaking during the rally, Amar Bangladesh Party Chairman Mojibur Rahman Bhuiyan Monju said the movement was not seeking to overthrow the government. Instead, he said, it wanted immediate action on what the coalition described as six urgent demands. “We started our long march, as per 6 points demand... hopeful that the government will consider our very reasonable demand, and we hope that all people are united with us,” he said.

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We started our long march, as per 6 points demand... hopeful that the government will consider our very reasonable demand, and we hope that all people are united with us.

The central demand is a Gono Vote, or referendum, on promised constitutional and political reforms. The coalition also wants the government to implement the July Resolution and the political commitments and justice frameworks associated with last year’s student-led July movement.

The opposition is also focusing on daily pressures. It says severe shortages of electricity and natural gas are disrupting households and businesses, while worsening law and order is creating concern in cities and rural areas. Its broader demands include administrative transparency, judicial fairness, public rights and better governance.

According to a schedule reported by BDNews24, the alliance plans marches from Dhaka to Rangpur on September 19 and Khulna on October 10, followed by a train journey to Sylhet on October 24. It has scheduled a mass rally in Dhaka for November 14.

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The implementation of the Gono Vote... and then our July resolution, and then the electricity and gas crisis, and then the law and order situation... our demand is only for justice, and the people's rights will be victory.