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2 Opposition Activists Die in Clashes in Bangladesh
Four Opposition Activists Die in Clashes in Bangladesh
(about 5 hours later)
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Two activists from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party were shot and killed on Monday during clashes with followers of the governing party.
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Four activists from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party were killed on Monday during clashes with supporters of the governing party and security forces.
Their deaths, on the outskirts of Natore, in the country’s northwest, occurred despite a tightening of security throughout Bangladesh in anticipation of violence on the first anniversary of the re-election of the governing party, the Awami League.
The violence, in three of the country’s northern districts, occurred despite tighter security throughout Bangladesh in anticipation of violence on the first anniversary of the re-election of the governing party, the Awami League.
The Awami League ran unopposed in more than half of the parliamentary districts last year after the Nationalist Party boycotted the elections. The move was in protest of the Awami League’s decision against allowing an impartial caretaker government to oversee the voting, as had been customary since 1996.
Two of the activists, who were both shot, died at a district hospital in Natore, said Mohammad Faridul Islam Khan, the officer in charge of a nearby police station. He said that the police were still investigating the deaths.
In the prelude to those elections were some of the deadliest political clashes in the country’s history. The opposition called strikes that paralyzed roads, and protesters set fire to trucks and buses. In 2013, 150 people were killed in political violence in Bangladesh, according to Human Rights Watch.
Dozens of activists from the rival political parties were facing off in Natore when the police arrived, throwing pieces of broken bricks at one another. The police charged at the protesters with batons to break up the violence, Mr. Khan said.
The two men who were killed on Monday died at a district hospital in Natore, said Mohammad Faridul Islam Khan, the officer in charge of a nearby police station, who said that the police were still investigating the deaths. When the police arrived at the rally in Natore, dozens of activists from both political parties were facing off, throwing pieces of broken bricks at one another. The police charged at the protesters with batons to break up the violence, Mr. Khan said.
Another opposition supporter died in Rajshani in clashes with the police when members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party tried to disrupt a rally by the governing party, a police official in the area said. And in the nearby district of Chapai Nawabganj, the police said, opposition supporters and members of Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamic party in the country, violated a ban on protests and attacked the police and security officers, who fired back. One protester was killed.
The clashes came after several days of tension, with the Nationalist Party pronouncing Monday to be “Democracy Killing Day” and urging supporters in the capital, Dhaka, and around the country to stage protests. Weeks earlier, the governing party had declared Monday to be the “Victory Day of Democracy” and called for rallies of its own.
The clashes occurred after several days of tension between the Nationalist Party, which boycotted last year’s elections in protest of the Awami League’s decision against a caretaker government to oversee the voting, as had been the case since 1996. Pro-government candidates ran unopposed in more than half of the parliamentary districts.
Dhaka on Sunday banned rallies in the city and its streets were largely deserted on Monday, as bus and ferry operators stopped service, according to television reports. Over the previous days, the local news media had reported that homemade bombs had exploded throughout the capital.
On Sunday, the police announced a ban on rallies in the capital, Dhaka. On Monday, Begum Khaleda Zia, the leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, called for a countrywide blockade of roads, railways and waterways.
The general secretary of the Natore branch of the Nationalist Party, Aminul Haque, said that the Awami League activists had shot the opposition’s followers at the morning’s “black flag” rally and, in response, the opposition had called a “dawn to dusk” strike.
Mrs. Zia, a former prime minister of Bangladesh, has been in her party’s office in Dhaka since Saturday with about 100 police officers outside. Sheikh Hasina, the current prime minister, denied that Mrs. Zia was being held there, adding that she was free to go, according to the state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.
The general secretary of the Natore branch of the Awami League, Malek Sheikh, said that the opposition protesters had fired on its rally, and that one of the deceased was an Awami League supporter. The Natore police, however, said that both of the men who were killed were supporters of the opposition.
But Mrs. Zia took issue with Mr. Hasina’s contention when she spoke to members of the news media on Monday afternoon.
Begum Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister and the leader of the Nationalist Party, has been in her party’s office in Dhaka since Saturday with about 100 police officers outside. Sheikh Hasina, the current prime minister, denied that Mrs. Zia was confined there, adding that she was free to go at any time, according to the state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.
But Mrs. Zia took issue with that as she addressed members of the news media on Monday afternoon.
“If I’m not confined, then why did they block the entrance of my office?” she said in televised comments. “It’s not only me. The whole country is in confinement.”
“If I’m not confined, then why did they block the entrance of my office?” she said in televised comments. “It’s not only me. The whole country is in confinement.”
