Sramik Dal’s rally underway at Nayapaltan with huge turnout

A rally of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal, the labour wing of BNP, has begun in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office with the participation of thousands of its leaders, activists and workers to mark May Day.

The rally formally began at around 2:12pm on Thursday with a recitation from the holy Quran.

Leaders and activists from Sramik Dal’s Dhaka South and North city units, as well as those from districts adjoining Dhaka, joined the rally wearing red caps.

Carrying national and party flags, banners, festoons and placards inscribed with slogans in favour of their different rights, they started arriving at the rally venue since morning.

Even during a spell of rain that began around 12:30pm, the Sramik Dal leaders and activists did not leave the venue.

A makeshift stage was set up using trucks on the road in front of the party's headquarters where cultural activists performed songs to keep the Sramik Dal leaders and workers invigorated amidst the rain.

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman is expected to virtually deliver an important speech on the current labour situation and contemporary national politics at the rally as the chief guest.

Besides, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, along with top national leaders and labour leaders, will speak at the workers' rally presided over by Sramik Dal President Anwar Hossain.

Meanwhile, vehicular movement in front of the BNP office has been disrupted due to the rally.

Speaking at a press briefing at the BNP’s Nayapaltan central office on Wednesday, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said, “We hope that on this great day of establishing rights, working people will attend the rally to protest their sufferings.”

He said Sramik Dal prepared leaflets, banners, and festoons with 12 demands.

Earlier on April 22, BNP Standing Committee Member Nazrul Islam Khan announced the plan to hold the rally, aiming for a massive turnout at the programme, where Sramik Dal will present a set of basic demands on behalf of the country’s working class.