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Two dead, scores injured in Bangladesh political violence

Protest ban incites major clashes in capital and elsewhere
Two dead, scores injured in Bangladesh political violence

Police guard Dhaka ahead of a planned Bangladesh Nationalist Party rally in Dhaka (Photo by Stephan Uttom) 

Published: January 05, 2015 09:43 AM GMT
Updated: April 22, 2015 01:15 AM GMT

At least two people were killed and scores injured on Monday after Bangladesh authorities tried to break up a banned rally by anti-government protesters.

The rally was organized by the country’s main opposition party to mark the first anniversary of a disputed general election.

The Ruling Awami League government announced the protest ban on Sunday and deployed thousands of security personnel in the capital Dhaka. Since Saturday night, officials have laid siege to the offices of Khaleda Zia, the head of the center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), preventing the opposition leader from leaving her office.

More than a dozen trucks, laden with sand and bricks were stationed outside her office to stop Zia from attending Monday’s planned protest in Dhaka to mark ‘Democracy Killing Day’ — the name her party gave the one-sided national election held on January 5, 2014.

Zia’s supporters have clashed with police and set ablaze vehicles in different parts of the country since Sunday as word spread of the ban on the Dhaka protest.

“Both parties called for rallies and counter-rallies, so none have been allowed. At least 15 to 20 vehicles have been set on fire across the country and we have beefed up security to avert more violence,” said Sirajul Islam, a Dhaka police official.

In northern Natore district, two people were shot dead and 15 injured as BNP supporters staged rallies and clashed with Awami League supporters.

Aminur Haque, a Natore BNP leader, said government supporters attacked them and that both people killed were from the opposition party. However, police couldn’t confirm the identity of those killed.

“Two people were killed as police opened fire to quell violence between rival supporters. The situation is still tense in the area,” said Faridul Islam, the Natore police station chief.

In Narayanganj district, south of Dhaka, at least 20 people were injured as BNP and government supporters clashed and police charged with batons and fired rubber bullets.

When ruling party supporters took to the streets in Dhaka, public transport shut down, leading to chaos across the city.

BNP officials have termed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government illegal, and demanded she step down immediately and make way for a mid-term election.

“This government doesn’t have the people’s mandate and now, it is trying to violate our constitutional rights by torturing our leaders and supporters,” said BNP office secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. He claimed that more than 500 BNP leaders and supporters were detained by police ahead of the banned rally, but police couldn’t confirm the figure.

Sheikh Hasina was re-elected a year ago in polls that were boycotted by the BNP and 20 other political parties including the largest Islamic hardline party Jamaat-e-Islami, amid fears of vote rigging.

Zia announced the boycott after Hasina refused to step down to make way for an interim and neutral caretaker government to oversee the election, a system used in the past three polls but was scrapped by the Awami League government in 2011.

As a result of the boycott, the Awami League won a clear majority in the 300-seat parliament.

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