General Strike clouds Wills Cup preparations
Bangladesh Cricket Board on Friday requested Leader of the Opposition
in Parliament Begum Khaleda Zia to call off a general strike (hartal)
on Sunday as it coincides with arrival of two teams to join the Wills
International Cup Cricket.
Talking to newsmen after a meeting of BCB, its president Saber Hossain
Chowsdhury MP said he hoped that the opposition 7-party alliance will
withdraw the hartal in the interest of sports of the country.
"I will also personally request the Leader of the Opposition in this
regard as national interest and prestige are linked with the
tournament," said Saber who is also Deputy Minister for Shipping.
He said: There is no scope to change the arrival schedule as it was
set much earlier. "I hope that the opposition would realise the
situation and call off the hartal."
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led 7-party alliance called for a
day-long general strike in the capital on Sunday as authorities
denied to allow them to stage a mass hunger strike on the day in front
of Wills Cup venue for the sake of last momement preparations of the
tournament.
Meanwhile, the BCB meeting formed a 36-member organising committee for
the knock-out basis world cup to be participated by all the nine test
playing countries from October 24 to November 2.
The committee, headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, includes
Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad, Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria
and State Minister for Sports Obaidul Qader.
All BCB members are also members of this committee, which will
supervise the overall activities of the first ever knock out basis
world cup tournament.
The BCB also formed an advisory committee comprising members of the
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Sports, DCC mayor Mohammad Hanif,
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Abul Hasan Chowdhury, State
Minister for Jute AK Faezul Huq and State Minister for LGRD Mofazzal
Hossain Chowdhury Maya, and former Finance Minister Saifur Rahman,
former State Minister for Sports Sadeq Hossain Khoka and Maj (retd)
Hafizuddin Ahmed. The last three are opposition BNP leaders.