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Strike Paralyzes Bangladesh
Golam Hossain, Special to Arab News
DHAKA, 28 September 2003 — Police used batons yesterday to disperse protesters as Bangladesh was shut down by an opposition-called strike to protest rising crime and a hike in fuel and electricity prices.
Police used batons to disperse dozens of women protesters who tried to squat on a street in Dhaka’s central Dhanmandi district, witnesses said. No one was injured. Police detained 25 protesters.
Authorities deployed extra security forces in the capital, Dhaka, and 60 other cities and towns to stop any violence during the shutdown, sponsored by the Awami League party.
Nearly 5,000 police and paramilitary troops stood guard in Dhaka, a city of 10 million people, police said.
Cars and buses stayed off Dhaka streets, where commuters used rickshaws that were allowed to operate. Government offices opened, but few people showed up for work, witnesses said.
Similar disruptions were reported across the country.
The opposition accuses Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s government of failing to curb a rise in murders and extortion.
In an attack unrelated to the strike, gunmen killed an Awami League member, Tushar Hasan, in southwestern Khulna city on Friday, police said. The motive was being investigated.
Police have reported more than 2,000 murders so far this year, compared with 1,300 for the whole of 2002.
Many of those killed were members of the country’s two largest parties, the Awami League and Zia’s ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Each accuses the other of orchestrating the violence.
The opposition also says a near 15 percent hike in fuel prices earlier this year and a 10 percent rise in electricity rates last month have hit the lower and middle classes hard.
Bangladesh’s opposition and trade unions commonly use strikes to highlight their demands and harass the government. Strike supporters often threaten violence against those who defy shutdowns, and street clashes are common.
Streets were deserted in Chittagong except for a few rickshaws. The southeastern city’s port was badly affected by the strike, officials said.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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