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NEW DELHI: Two Bangladeshi opposition activists were killed on Tuesday after police clashed with hundreds of anti-government protesters launching a three-day strike blocking roads and railways after their top leaders were charged with murder, reported news agency AFP.
Protests in Bangladesh escalated into violence in several cities and towns, as the opposition parties, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party, call for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ahead of the upcoming elections, scheduled for the end of January.
The turmoil began when police intervened to disperse a rally on Saturday, attended by over 100,000 supporters of the major opposition parties.
The demonstrators demanded that Prime Minister Hasina ensures a free and impartial election under a neutral government. In response, the BNP initiated a transport blockade to further their cause.
On Sunday, law enforcement charged BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and more than 150 high-ranking party members with the murder of a police officer during the protests.
The violent turn of events has raised international concerns, prompting seven countries, including the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, and Japan, to issue a joint statement. In the statement, they called on both sides to exercise restraint, refrain from violence, and collaborate to ensure a free and fair election process.
Al Amin, deputy police chief in the town of Kuliarchar, north of the capital Dhaka, told AFP that two BNP members were killed, but that details were not clear on how they died.
BNP official Shariful Alam said, “The two were shot dead by the police during a rally with more than 2,000 protesters”.
“Police came and opened fire — one BNP activist died on the spot and another at a hospital. More than 100 were injured”, he added.
Meanwhile, United States Ambassador Peter Haas has called on all sides to hold talks to ensure “free, fair and peaceful elections”, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. However, PM Hasina rejected the call.
“The way they killed an innocent policeman, are they humans?” Hasina told reporters in Dhaka, referring to the death of an officer during Saturday’s clashes with BNP supporters.
“Why should we hold a meeting with the killers?” she added. “Why hold dialogue? The people of Bangladesh don’t want it. Does (US President Joe) Biden hold dialogue with (Donald) Trump?”
“Protesters set fire to buses and clashed with security forces, hurling petrol bombs and pelting officers with rocks”, police said.
“They hurled Molotov cocktails and attacked and vandalised transport vehicles,” police officer Mominul Islam told AFP, adding at least 15 officers were injured.
“Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters,” he said.
In the industrial city of Narayanganj, three police officers were “critically injured” by opposition protesters, Amir Khasru, deputy district police chief told the agency.
“They were hacked with sharp weapons”, he added.
Dhaka Police has said that they have arrested at least 1,727 opposition activists and supporters over the last week. At least 1,544 opposition activists and leaders were also charged with violence on Saturday, police said.
(With AFP inputs)
Protests in Bangladesh escalated into violence in several cities and towns, as the opposition parties, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party, call for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ahead of the upcoming elections, scheduled for the end of January.
The turmoil began when police intervened to disperse a rally on Saturday, attended by over 100,000 supporters of the major opposition parties.
The demonstrators demanded that Prime Minister Hasina ensures a free and impartial election under a neutral government. In response, the BNP initiated a transport blockade to further their cause.
On Sunday, law enforcement charged BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and more than 150 high-ranking party members with the murder of a police officer during the protests.
The violent turn of events has raised international concerns, prompting seven countries, including the United States, Australia, Britain, Canada, and Japan, to issue a joint statement. In the statement, they called on both sides to exercise restraint, refrain from violence, and collaborate to ensure a free and fair election process.
Al Amin, deputy police chief in the town of Kuliarchar, north of the capital Dhaka, told AFP that two BNP members were killed, but that details were not clear on how they died.
BNP official Shariful Alam said, “The two were shot dead by the police during a rally with more than 2,000 protesters”.
“Police came and opened fire — one BNP activist died on the spot and another at a hospital. More than 100 were injured”, he added.
Meanwhile, United States Ambassador Peter Haas has called on all sides to hold talks to ensure “free, fair and peaceful elections”, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. However, PM Hasina rejected the call.
“The way they killed an innocent policeman, are they humans?” Hasina told reporters in Dhaka, referring to the death of an officer during Saturday’s clashes with BNP supporters.
“Why should we hold a meeting with the killers?” she added. “Why hold dialogue? The people of Bangladesh don’t want it. Does (US President Joe) Biden hold dialogue with (Donald) Trump?”
“Protesters set fire to buses and clashed with security forces, hurling petrol bombs and pelting officers with rocks”, police said.
“They hurled Molotov cocktails and attacked and vandalised transport vehicles,” police officer Mominul Islam told AFP, adding at least 15 officers were injured.
“Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters,” he said.
In the industrial city of Narayanganj, three police officers were “critically injured” by opposition protesters, Amir Khasru, deputy district police chief told the agency.
“They were hacked with sharp weapons”, he added.
Dhaka Police has said that they have arrested at least 1,727 opposition activists and supporters over the last week. At least 1,544 opposition activists and leaders were also charged with violence on Saturday, police said.
(With AFP inputs)
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