US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas has asked whether the government will close the roads in Dhaka during the BNP rally on 28 October, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said.

Haas made the query during a courtesy meeting with the home minister at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Sunday (22 October), Kamal told reporters after the meeting.

"Peter Haas said the BNP will gather many people in the capital on 28 October. He asked whether the government will close the roads at this time?

"The ministry has informed that if any political party conducts the rally peacefully, the ministry will have nothing to say," Kamal said.

"However, it should also be remembered that Dhaka is a city of traffic jams. Bringing more than one million people here can cause mismanagement. To ensure that this does not happen, the Ministry of Home Affairs is requesting the political parties not to block the roads and allow people to travel.

"Dhaka city will not be allowed to come to a stand still," said the home minister.

Peter Haas came to the Ministry of Home Affairs to discuss the Durga Puja celebrations in the country and the rallies of Awami League and BNP.

After the meeting, Peter Haas told reporters that he expects that all the activities of Durga Puja will be held peacefully.

At the same time, he hoped that after the puja, the rallies of Awami League, BNP and other political parties would be held peacefully.