BNP leaders said the release of party leaders and workers from jails across the country is now the primary focus of the party. The party is also considering a proper welcome for the leaders and workers who have been released from jail so far. BNP may organize iftar parties as well as reception events in the month of Ramadan.
BNP seniors believe that such programs will help reinvigorate and reorganize the party’s grassroots leader-workers, who are dejected due to its failure in the movement.
According to the BNP central office, around 24,000 to 25,000 party leaders-workers and supporters, including general secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, were arrested between the last week of October and the 12th parliamentary election on January 7. However, government ministers dispute the numbers, saying the number of BNP men arrested will not exceed 12,000. But the series of arrests of BNP workers, which started in view of the party’s grand rally on October 28, continued till the elections.