Bangladesh’s main opposition party launches transport blockade

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) launched a three-day transport blockade in major cities Tuesday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and in protest against a government crackdown.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and other opposition parties have joined the BNP in the blockade.

Fewer vehicles than normal were seen on the streets of the capital Dhaka as people feared attacks by protesters.

A number of buses were attacked and set on fire, however, during protests in Dhaka and in other locations.

Mohammad Idris Mia, a bus service manager in the city of Chattogram, told Anadolu they have cancelled all their bus services to Dhaka until the end of the blockade on Thursday evening.

Khandker Enayetullah, president of the Dhaka Bus Owners Association, said they have announced plans to operate inter-city public buses.

Meanwhile, six people have been killed in political violence in Bangladesh.

The BNP’s media wing said Tuesday that two of the party’s local leaders were gunned down by police in Kishoreganj district in Dhaka on the first day of the blockade.

On Oct. 28, four people including a police officer and a child were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces as police foiled a rally by the opposition party which was attended by thousands of people in Dhaka.

Nearly 6,700 people, mostly BNP members, have been arrested.

Hasina has rejected the opposition’s demand for the transfer of power to a neutral caretaker government to oversee general elections expected early next year.

She told a news conference that her government would continue to function as normal and has dismissed calls for talks with the BNP.