Dhaka: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has planned to hold a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on 8 November, marking the ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’ and thus stage a big showdown in Dhaka, reports local news agency UNB.

The party has already sought permission from the authorities concerned to hold the programme, said BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Friday.

Speaking at a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan central office, he said, ‘We’ve sent a letter to the administration seeking permission for holding the rally on November 8 at Suhrawardy Udyan. We’re going to arrange the programme on the occasion of the National Revolution and Solidarity Day that falls on November 7.’

He said they are taking all-out preparations to make the programme a success.

Asked whether their chairperson Khaleda Zia will be present at the meeting, he said, ‘We’ll hold a big rally on the day. We’ll inform you later whether the Madam (Khaleda Zia) will be there or not.’ 

Earlier on Thursday, the party planned a 10-day programme to observe the ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day,’marking what it said the civil-military ‘uprising on November 7, 1975’.

Rizvi announced the programmes at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office after a joint meeting of the party and its associate bodies.

The celebrations of the day will begin on November 5 and end on November 14.

Amid political turmoil, soldiers and civilians on November 7, 1975 jointly freed then chief of army staff Ziaur Rahman from captivity in Dhaka cantonment, paving the path for Zia to come to power.

While BNP and its alliances celebrate November 7 as the National Revolution and Solidarity Day, the ruling Awami League and its front organisations consider it as the day of ‘killing of freedom fighters’. Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Rob) observes it as the day of civil-military revolution.