Bangladesh protesters attack trains, shut down cities

Baton-wielding police in Bangladesh clashed with thousands of demonstrators who threw stones and smashed vehicles on Nov. 13 during protests demanding electoral reform. Two men have been killed and over 100 injured in clashes with police over the previous two days as the political crisis gathered momentum ahead of the general election. Slogan-chanting demonstrators converged on highways leading in and out of Dhaka, cutting the capital off from the rest of the country. Inside the city, protesters took to the streets for a second straight day, crippling business and transportation. Police moved in firing rubber bullets after about 5,000 demonstrators started throwing stones at them and smashed several vehicles for defying the strike call outside Dhaka's five-star Sonargaon Hotel. Protest leaders said that a man was killed after a police car drove through a crowd that had defied a ban on demonstrations in the capital. "It was a peaceful gathering. But the police started firing in the air, and before we realized, the police car came straight toward us," said a protest leader adding that authorities appeared to be letting the situation deteriorate so the army could be called in. The protest was launched the day before by a 14-party political alliance to demand the resignation of election officials. Activists set fire to at least five train carriages and a bus on the outskirts of Dhaka where hundreds had gathered despite an indefinite ban on rallies and demonstrations. Vehicles were also torched or stoned in several districts in the east and north of the country. The alliance, led by the main opposition Awami League party, said a caretaker government has failed to take steps to ensure January elections will be free and fair. The parties are calling for the removal of the chief election commissioner and his three deputies, accusing them of favoring former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which has candidates on the January ballot. Commissioner M.A. Aziz denies the allegations and has refused to resign. Under the Bangladeshi constitution, the prime minister must step down three months before new elections and hand over power to a nonpartisan interim government. That measure is meant to guarantee that elections are fair and without undue political influence. Hundreds of alliance supporters gathered in Dhaka and other major cities early on Nov. 14, blocking links between the capital and the rest of the country. Some protesters burned effigies of Aziz and schools were shut across the country. "We have instructed our followers to paralyze the country... including ports, buses, trains and ferries," Awami general secretary Abdul Jalil told reporters. "We cannot leave the roads or let the transport move again until they fulfil our conditions." Operations at Bangladesh's main sea ports were also halted by the opposition action. More than 60 foreign and local merchant ships have been stranded at berths and the outer anchorage for two days. Police said fears of more violence have risen after the BNP announced plans to "take to the streets and face off those trying to jeopardize democracy and economy." On Nov. 12, the government said it would deploy the army to keep order. The home ministry issued a note to district administrations stating: "The government has decided to deploy the army to assist civil administration in the wake of the current law and order situation in the country." Jalil said "the country's law and order situation has not reached a level where the army's intervention is needed." "I hope our patriotic armed forces will refuse to be used for political purposes or to protect the interest of one group, at the cost of people's rights," Jalil said. "We are struggling to safeguard democracy and ensure people's right to choose their government through a free, fair and credible election." The government did not say when the army would start deploying, but local authorities dispatched nearly 15,000 police, elite forces and paramilitary troops to maintain law and order in the capital, home to 10 million people. "Any efforts to break our protest will only trigger violence," said a protester in the capital. At least 30 people were killed and hundreds injured in clashes between rival political activists in late October over the demand for electoral reforms.