Bangladesh's main opposition leader was detained for questioning on Sunday, as clashes raged for a second day between police and protesters demonstrating against the prime minister ahead of upcoming elections.
AFP
Issued on: 29/10/2023
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has led the BNP since its chairwoman and two-time former premier Khaleda Zia was arrested and jailed
Police also made a series of raids on the homes of senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders, party spokesman Zahir Uddin Swapan said, adding that nearly 3,000 party activists and supporters had been detained in the past week.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman said BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had been "detained for interrogation".
Rahman told AFP that Alamgir would be questioned over Saturday's violence in which a police officer and a protester were killed, and at least 26 police ambulances were torched or damaged.
Alamgir, 75, the BNP's secretary-general, has led the party since BNP chairwoman and two-time former premier Khaleda Zia was arrested and jailed, and her son went into exile in Britain.
The resurgent opposition has been mounting protests for months, despite their ailing leader Zia being effectively under house arrest after a conviction on corruption charges.
Police also made a series of raids on the homes of senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders, party spokesman Zahir Uddin Swapan said, adding that nearly 3,000 party activists and supporters had been detained in the past week.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman said BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had been "detained for interrogation".
Rahman told AFP that Alamgir would be questioned over Saturday's violence in which a police officer and a protester were killed, and at least 26 police ambulances were torched or damaged.
Alamgir, 75, the BNP's secretary-general, has led the party since BNP chairwoman and two-time former premier Khaleda Zia was arrested and jailed, and her son went into exile in Britain.
The resurgent opposition has been mounting protests for months, despite their ailing leader Zia being effectively under house arrest after a conviction on corruption charges.
Protesters in Bangladesh have been demonstrating against the prime minister ahead of upcoming elections due before the end of January
© Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP
Saturday's protests by BNP and the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, were among the biggest this year, and marked a new phase in their campaigning with a general election due before the end of January.
Saturday's protests by BNP and the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, were among the biggest this year, and marked a new phase in their campaigning with a general election due before the end of January.
Rubber bullets, tear gas
More than 100,000 supporters of the two major opposition parties rallied on Saturday to demand Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down to allow a free and fair vote under a neutral government.
Protests descended into several hours of violent clashes in central Dhaka, and both the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami called for a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest the violence.
Security on Sunday was tight in the capital with thousands of members of security forces patrolling the streets.
But police in the northern district of Lalmonirhat said a youth leader in the ruling party was killed and several others injured during violent clashes between hundreds of opposition and ruling party supporters.
"He was rushed to a hospital where he died," local police chief Ershadul Alam told AFP.
Police accused protesters of setting fire to a bus in Dhaka in the early hours of Sunday morning, after a blaze in which one person was killed and another badly burned.
Violence between Bangladesh's police and opposition protesters has sparked international concern
Opposition activists and police clashed in several rural districts as well as the industrial city of Narayanganj, police said.
Officers fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the protesters after they burned tyres on a road and tried to vandalise vehicles, district police chief Golan Mostofa Russell told AFP.
One officer was injured, police said, while local media reported two BNP protesters were also injured.
Violence has sparked international concern, with the United States on Saturday calling for "calm and restraint on all sides".
The European Union on Sunday said it was "vital that a peaceful way forward for participatory and peaceful elections is found", it posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Hasina -- the daughter of the country's founding leader -- has been in power for 15 years and overseen rapid economic growth. Bangladesh has overtaken neighbouring India in GDP per capita, but its inflation has risen and Hasina's government is accused of corruption and human rights abuses.
Western governments have expressed concern over the political climate in Bangladesh, where Hasina's ruling Awami League dominates the legislature and runs it virtually as a rubber stamp.
Her security forces are accused of detaining tens of thousands of opposition activists, killing hundreds in extrajudicial encounters and disappearing hundreds of leaders and supporters.
© 2023 AFP
Officers fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the protesters after they burned tyres on a road and tried to vandalise vehicles, district police chief Golan Mostofa Russell told AFP.
One officer was injured, police said, while local media reported two BNP protesters were also injured.
Violence has sparked international concern, with the United States on Saturday calling for "calm and restraint on all sides".
The European Union on Sunday said it was "vital that a peaceful way forward for participatory and peaceful elections is found", it posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Hasina -- the daughter of the country's founding leader -- has been in power for 15 years and overseen rapid economic growth. Bangladesh has overtaken neighbouring India in GDP per capita, but its inflation has risen and Hasina's government is accused of corruption and human rights abuses.
Western governments have expressed concern over the political climate in Bangladesh, where Hasina's ruling Awami League dominates the legislature and runs it virtually as a rubber stamp.
Her security forces are accused of detaining tens of thousands of opposition activists, killing hundreds in extrajudicial encounters and disappearing hundreds of leaders and supporters.
© 2023 AFP
More than 100,000 protest to demand Bangladesh PM step down
By AFP
October 28, 2023
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters rally in Dhaka, demanding the prime minister step down to allow a free and fair vote under a neutral government
By AFP
October 28, 2023
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters rally in Dhaka, demanding the prime minister step down to allow a free and fair vote under a neutral government
- Copyright AFP Munir uz ZAMAN
Over 100,000 supporters of two major Bangladesh opposition parties rallied in the capital Dhaka on Saturday, police said, demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down to allow a free and fair vote under a neutral government.
Saturday’s rallies by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, were the biggest so far this year, AFP journalists on site said, and marked a new phase in their protests with a general election due within three months.
Hasina — daughter of the country’s founding leader — has been in power for 15 years and has overseen rapid economic growth with Bangladesh overtaking neighbouring India in GDP per capita, but inflation has risen and her government is accused of corruption and human rights abuses.
The resurgent opposition has been mounting protests to press their demands for months, despite the BNP’s ailing leader Khaleda Zia, a two-time premier and old foe of Hasina’s, being effectively under house arrest after a conviction on corruption charges.
Her supporters poured into Dhaka on Saturday, crammed into buses despite checkpoints on the road into the capital, and even rode on top of packed trains.
“Vote thief, vote thief, Sheikh Hasina vote thief,” chanted the crowd at the BNP demonstration in front of the party headquarters.
Student activist Sekandar Badsha, 24, from Chittagong, said: “We demand the immediate resignation of the Hasina government, release of our leader Khaleda Zia and establishing the people’s right to vote.”
At least 10,000 police had been deployed to prevent violence, officials said, but officers clashed with hundreds of protestors in the Kakrail neighbourhood in front of the city’s largest Catholic church, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
“Some police officers were injured,” deputy police commissioner Akterul Islam told AFP.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain said that at least 100,000 people had joined the BNP rally, while up to 25,000 were at the Jamaat protest near the city’s main commercial district.
That event had been banned by police and hundreds of officers in riot gear blocked off a key intersection, but about 3,000 protesters broke through the cordon, an AFP correspondent at the scene saw.
– ‘Final call’ –
Police arrested at least 200 BNP supporters near the party headquarters after they were accused of hurling Molotov cocktails, Faruk said, adding at least 600 had been detained over the previous week.
BNP spokesman Zahir Uddin Swapan told AFP that there were more than one million people at its rally, which he described as its “final call” for Hasina to resign, and at least 2,900 of its activists and supporters had been held over the past week.
If Hasina does not step down voluntarily — widely seen as inconceivable — the party has threatened to call more aggressive protests such as strikes and blockades.
Western governments have expressed concern over the political climate in Bangladesh, where Hasina’s ruling Awami League dominates the legislature and runs it virtually as a rubber stamp.
Her security forces are accused of detaining tens of thousands of opposition activists, killing hundreds in extrajudicial encounters and disappearing hundreds of leaders and supporters.
Over 100,000 supporters of two major Bangladesh opposition parties rallied in the capital Dhaka on Saturday, police said, demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down to allow a free and fair vote under a neutral government.
Saturday’s rallies by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, were the biggest so far this year, AFP journalists on site said, and marked a new phase in their protests with a general election due within three months.
Hasina — daughter of the country’s founding leader — has been in power for 15 years and has overseen rapid economic growth with Bangladesh overtaking neighbouring India in GDP per capita, but inflation has risen and her government is accused of corruption and human rights abuses.
The resurgent opposition has been mounting protests to press their demands for months, despite the BNP’s ailing leader Khaleda Zia, a two-time premier and old foe of Hasina’s, being effectively under house arrest after a conviction on corruption charges.
Her supporters poured into Dhaka on Saturday, crammed into buses despite checkpoints on the road into the capital, and even rode on top of packed trains.
“Vote thief, vote thief, Sheikh Hasina vote thief,” chanted the crowd at the BNP demonstration in front of the party headquarters.
Student activist Sekandar Badsha, 24, from Chittagong, said: “We demand the immediate resignation of the Hasina government, release of our leader Khaleda Zia and establishing the people’s right to vote.”
At least 10,000 police had been deployed to prevent violence, officials said, but officers clashed with hundreds of protestors in the Kakrail neighbourhood in front of the city’s largest Catholic church, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.
“Some police officers were injured,” deputy police commissioner Akterul Islam told AFP.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruk Hossain said that at least 100,000 people had joined the BNP rally, while up to 25,000 were at the Jamaat protest near the city’s main commercial district.
That event had been banned by police and hundreds of officers in riot gear blocked off a key intersection, but about 3,000 protesters broke through the cordon, an AFP correspondent at the scene saw.
– ‘Final call’ –
Police arrested at least 200 BNP supporters near the party headquarters after they were accused of hurling Molotov cocktails, Faruk said, adding at least 600 had been detained over the previous week.
BNP spokesman Zahir Uddin Swapan told AFP that there were more than one million people at its rally, which he described as its “final call” for Hasina to resign, and at least 2,900 of its activists and supporters had been held over the past week.
If Hasina does not step down voluntarily — widely seen as inconceivable — the party has threatened to call more aggressive protests such as strikes and blockades.
Western governments have expressed concern over the political climate in Bangladesh, where Hasina’s ruling Awami League dominates the legislature and runs it virtually as a rubber stamp.
Her security forces are accused of detaining tens of thousands of opposition activists, killing hundreds in extrajudicial encounters and disappearing hundreds of leaders and supporters.
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