DHAKA, 23 November 2005 — The Awami League-led opposition parties called a nationwide dawn-to-dusk general strike for Nov. 24 to protest the harassment and obstruction of people joining yesterday massive rally in Dhaka. A boy was killed and over 150 were injured when cadres of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and Jubo Dal, student and youth wings of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party allegedly attacked their processions in Keraniganj, near Dhaka, as police looked on.
Addressing a huge rally in the capital, opposition leader Hasina Wajed accused the government of preventing her followers from coming to the rally by setting up roadblocks and other means.
As she spoke, stone-throwing opposition activists fought pitched battles with police on nearby streets, in which witnesses said about 15 vehicles were damaged and 20 people detained. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the activists.
Hasina asked her followers to launch a relentless campaign to force the “corrupt, inefficient and repressive” government of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia to resign.
She also said the government had failed to maintain law and order, as the country has been hit by a wave of bombings blamed on militants. Hasina lost power to Khaleda in a 2001 general election, and they are likely to face off again in the next election due in January 2007.
Awami League General Secretary Abdul Jalil announced a day of countrywide anti-government protest on Wednesday, followed by a day-long general strike on Thursday.
But he failed to unveil a promised “tough action plan” to force Khaleda’s government out, though he said the government had lost “all rights to stay in office.”
Earlier, tens of thousands of opposition activists and supporters marched on to Dhaka’s Paltan public ground to attend the rally. Security was tightened across Bangladesh in the wake of recent wave of bombings and killing of two judges on Nov. 14.
“Down with the government, Khaleda Zia resign,” activists chanted as they headed toward a heavily guarded rally ground.
Many of those attending the rally, billed by Awami League as one of the biggest in recent years, had walked for miles because of a transport strike in the country that began Monday.
