The two main opposition parties in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist Jamaat e Islami, gathered more than 100,000 people this Saturday in the country’s capital, Dhaka, to demand the immediate resignation of the Government just three months before the general elections amid serious doubts about the impartiality of the elections as long as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continues to lead the country.
The economic crisis exacerbated in recent months has accentuated the long feud between the prime minister and her great historical rival and leader of the PNB, former prime minister Jaleda Zia, who is currently convalescing under house arrest for a corruption case that the former president, With health problems and unable to go abroad to receive treatment, he denounces it as political persecution.
The crowd began to gather around 7:30 a.m. local time in front of the party’s large headquarters in Dhaka and a few hours before a counter-demonstration by the government party, the Awami League, while the Police have confirmed at least 50 arrests. at the checkpoints, where the searches prior to the march have been carried out, for suspicious activities.
The Police have confirmed sporadic clashes with alleged PNB followers shortly after noon in the Kakrail area, where security agents have fired tear gas against a group that has launched an arson attack against a police booth, security forces informed the newspaper. Bangladeshi Prothom Alo.
Shortly before the police altercation, suspected BNP supporters attacked a bus and a van carrying Awami League leaders and activists, in front of the Kakrail mosque, which became the scene of skirmishes for a few hours.
This tension will continue at least throughout Sunday, the day for which the general secretary of the PNB, Mirza Fajrul Islam Alamgir, has announced a protest strike against the police response to the incidents.
