72-hr blockade from Saturday

The Opposition’s latest protest plan coincides with the visit of UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, who arrives in Dhaka on Friday.
BNP's Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed said in a video message that the blockade would begin at 6am on Saturday and end at 6am Tuesday.
The Opposition called the third nationwide blockade to push for a non-party poll-time government and the postponement of the poll schedule even before its second spell of blockade - lasting over six days - had ended.
Ahmed urged the people to demonstrate peacefully, promising to lift the blockade the moment the government conceded the Opposition's demands.
He also said the Opposition would hold funeral prayers across the country on Friday for those who died in the recent violence.
At least 50 people have been killed across the country during the Opposition’s agitation.
Ahmed said they had given the government till 5pm on Thursday to meet the Opposition's demand and were being "forced to go for another blockade in the absence of any government initiative".
The 18-party alliance had first enforced a 72-hour blockade from Nov 26 in protest against the poll schedule announced by the Election Commission fixing Jan 5 as the election date.
The last six-day blockade which ended on Thursday was called on Nov 30 to protest the filing of cases against senior BNP leaders, including the party’s acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, in connection with incidents of arson.
During the agitation, railways came under heavy attacks with Opposition supporters sabotaging tracks at various places. Numerous vehicles were damaged and torched, while at least 50 people were killed and many others injured.
Meanwhile, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco arrives in Dhaka on Friday on a four-day visit amid the political turmoil.
Fernandez-Taranco had first visited Dhaka nearly seven months ago to mediate talks between the two major political parties.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon had also written to Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, urging talks.
A source had said Ban's letter had hinted that the UN was ready to take initiatives to mediate a dialogue between the two feuding parties.