Staff Correspondent
BNP on Tuesday called a 48-hour hartal for Wednesday and Thursday in Dhaka and Khulna Divisions alongside the ongoing blockade.
The hartal will begin at 6am Wednesday and continue until 6am Friday.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, joint secretary general of BNP, who signed in a press statement, said t hartal will begin at 6am Wednesday and continue till 6am Friday protesting against 'oppression' of party activists by the joint forces.
The hartal was called to protest the rise in the number of murders and disappearances as well as the harassment and arrest of opposition politicians under the present government, said the BNP leader.
On the other hand, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), the student wing of BNP, called strike in all educational institutions across the country for Wednesday and Thursday.
JCD President Rajib Ahsan and General Secretary Md Akramul Hasan, in a statement issued on Tuesday, announced the strike.
The strike was called to protest killing, forced disappearance and arrest of leaders and activists of JCD across the country, and extortion by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student wing of ruling Awami League, the statement said.
The statement also referred the JCD's demand to restoration of democracy and establishes the voting rights of the people.
On Monday, BNP chief Khaleda Zia announced that the blockade would continue until the government agreed for a dialogue over a snap election.
Blockade-related violence killed at least 27 people since Jan 5 with hundreds of vehicles, including those of the law-enforcing agencies, attacked and damaged.
Khaleda blamed the government for the violence. On the other hand, the government announced rewards for catching anarchists responsible for violence during strikes and blockades.