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55 injured, hundreds arrested in Bangladeshi strike DHAKA: A strike by Bangladesh's main opposition party ground businesses to a halt in Dhaka on Saturday as the ruling coalition of Nationalists and Islamists pledged to defy all pressures to step down and hold mid-term polls, reports dpa. Schools and universities were closed, limited financial transactions were made and streets were deserted as the one-day strike sparked fresh violence in the capital leaving 55 injured, witnesses said. In a reaction to stone-throwing pickets police in riot gear arrested over 300 opposition activists preparing to hold an anti-government rally in central Dhaka. The detainees include former ministers, lawmakers and university students. The Awami League sponsored the national strike, the fourth this month, to protest against what it called police excesses on party leaders and activists during last week's demonstrations calling on the government to resign. Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina claimed at least 500 party workers were held by police in a crackdown on opposition activists in the city on the eve of the dawn-to-dusk shutdown. With overnight arrests the number of people detained in the last two days of political unrest had risen to over 800. "The opposition's demand for mid-term polls is unjustified because there is no political or economic crisis facing the country to warrant such a step," said Abdul Mannan Bhuiya, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party the dominant group in the coalition. Bhuiya denied charges levelled against the coalition of unleashing repression on the opposition on political grounds as those booked by police had specific criminal charges against them. At a crowded political rally in Dhaka on Friday Hasina urged party workers and supporters to step up the campaign to dislodge the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to clear the way for mid-term elections. In a counter statement Saturday Zia said her coalition was prepared to face the opposition politically. The Awami League, which is boycotting parliament, blames the government for runaway prices, widespread corruption and escalating crime, charges denied by the authorities. The coalition came to power after a massive election victory more than two years ago. Polls are not due before October 2006. |
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