Bangladesh crippled by transport blockade as political deadlock continues
By Associated Press
Sunday, December 3, 2006 - Updated: 09:43 AM EST
DHAKA, Bangladesh - Separate clashes between rival political activists and police left one man dead and at least 65 people injured, as a major political alliance in Bangladesh staged a nationwide transport blockade on Sunday to force electoral reforms, police and news reports said.
The clashes between supporters of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, the chief of a 14-party political alliance, occurred in the northeastern district of Sylhet, a police official said by telephone from the district.
One unidentified man was killed and about 50 other people were injured in the clashes in Sylhet, 120 miles northeast of capital Dhaka, said the official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Separately, at least 15 people suffered injuries after police clashed with Hasina’s supporters in Shariatpur district, 35 miles west of Dhaka, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported.
Police used batons to disperse the activists during the clash in Shariatpur, and the protesters later damaged a local election office, the agency reported.
Meanwhile, more than 20,000 protesters poured into Bangladesh’s capital Sunday and were met by roughly equally large numbers of security officials, witnesses and a news report said.
No violence was reported in Dhaka, but transportation and businesses ground to a halt after protesters erected barricades on major highways, cutting off the capital from the rest of the country, the ATN Bangla TV station reported.
Some protesters smashed a number of vehicles which tried to defy the blockade, ATN Bangla said.
The areas around the presidential palace in downtown Dhaka were the main protest venue, as President Iajuddin Ahmed met with members of an interim government to try to end the political impasse, the report said.
The open-ended, nationwide protest came after last-minute efforts by Ahmed to resolve a political deadlock threatening January elections failed late Saturday.
Only a few three-wheel rickshaws were plying Dhaka’s streets on Sunday, a working day in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a nation of 144 million people.
Late Saturday, Ahmed met separately with Zia and Hasina to try to avert the strike.
Hasina was the leader of the opposition during Zia’s tenure that ended in October, and prime minister before Zia came to power. The two women are longtime political adversaries.
Zia urged Ahmed to ask Hasina to suspend the blockade because previous strikes have harmed the impoverished country’s economy, party spokesman, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, said.
Bangladesh has recently witnessed a series of violent street protests, organized by Hasina’s alliance, to demand changes in the election commission and a voter list - both of which they say are biased toward Zia’s party.
They also want Ahmed to step down as chief of the interim government charged with running the country until the elections, as they accuse him of lack of neutrality.
A spokesman for the interim government late Saturday said they would meet Sunday to consider demands made by both political leaders.
The Jan. 21 poll date, set by the Election Commission, has been rejected by the alliance, although the parties in the alliance have not said if they plan to boycott it.
The interim government has 90 days from the time Zia stepped down on Oct. 28 to hold the new elections, according to the constitution.
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AP correspondents Parveen Ahmed in Dhaka and Humayun Rashid Chowdhury in Sylhet contributed to this report.
© Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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