Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina will announce the final round of agitation at a grand rally in the capital on September 18.

Senior leaders of the opposition parties will draw up a list of the programmes tomorrow night. Hasina will approve the draft on the morning of the rally day with a view to keeping the programmes secret till the formal announcement, sources close to the AL president said.

Abdul Jalil, coordinator of the 14-party alliance told The Daily Star yesterday, "We will opt for more vigorous programmes and do everything we can to force the government to accept the demand for electoral reforms. We will bring the entire country to a standstill after the grand rally."

As part of the last round demonstrations, the opposition will seek to cut off Dhaka from the other parts of the country through hartal, siege and obstacle programmes, said Jalil, also general secretary of AL.

"We have no alternative but to win this one last fight. It will be a fight for our existence and we just cannot afford to lose it," he observed.

In the last couple of days, the opposition combine has held a series of meetings preparatory to the grand rally. They will issue some instructions today for the grassroots level leaders of Dhaka division.

The opposition parties are looking to turn the capital into a human sea by mobilising around 10 lakh people in the September 18 rally. They have already directed the district level leaders to work to that end.

The grassroots level leaders have urged the high-ups to declare programmes aiming to keep downtown Dhaka halted for several days.

The leaders of the Chittagong and Sylhet regions where the AL leaders hold the mayoral posts have hinted that they are ready to shut off all modes of communications if needed.

The government, on the other hand, will be tough on the opposition programme and has already instructed the law enforcers accordingly.

The police and other law enforcement agencies have been asked to stay alert until the opposition declares the next programmes.

In return for anonymity, a senior police official told The Daily Star that they have been ordered to go for blanket arrests in the run-up to the grand rally at Paltan Maidan.

Meanwhile, the opposition leaders and workers have been asked to resist the law enforcers if they try to bar them from joining the rally.

"If the government resorts to violence, we will reply with stiff resistance," AL Joint General Secretary Obaidul Quader told The Daily Star.

PREPARATORY MEETINGS

The city unit of the 14-party yesterday held a meeting at Gono Forum's office in the capital. At the meeting, the opposition leaders observed that at long last the prime minister has acknowledged the need for proposed reforms but that too when they are preparing for the final agitation.

Now she is talking about a secretary-level dialogue over the issue, they added.

Questioning her sincerity, they said they will have to see whether it is a new conspiracy of the BNP chairperson.

AL Presidium Member Tofail Ahmed called on Khaleda to come up with a formal written proposal in this regard.

At the meeting, Abdul Jalil said, "We must think twice before reaching a decision on the prime minister's proposal for dialogue. We have to be sure if she really means what she said."

Presided over by Dhaka City Gono Forum President Mostafa Mohsin Mantu, the meeting was addressed among others by Rashed Khan Menon, Obaidul Quader, Abdul Mannan, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Dilip Barua, Nurul Islam, Pankaj Bhattacharya, and Abdus Samad.

The opposition combine sits today to exchange views with city, thana, and ward unit leaders.

The left leaning 11-party, a major component of the 14-party alliance, held a meeting at the Workers Party office with Rashed Khan Menon in the chair.

Attended by 11-party coordinator Nurul Islam, Bimal Biswas, Dilip Barua, among others, the meeting observed that the government should act to create an environment congenial to holding a dialogue on the reforms issue.