DHAKA, 13 September 2006 — More than 100 people, including Awami League (AL) lawmakers Mohammad Nasim and Asaduzzman Noor, were injured in violent clashes between opposition activists and police outside the prime minister’s office yesterday, police and witnesses said.
The clashes, which come amid opposition calls for election reforms, saw up to 12,000 opposition activists throw stones and try to pull down barbed-wire-topped barricades outside Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s office, police said. Some of the injured were taken to hospital with blood streaming from head wounds, according to television footage and an AFP correspondent at the scene.
A police chief speaking on condition of anonymity said officers were forced to use batons against the demonstrators after being struck by stones. More than a dozen police men were also injured. Officials at two city hospitals said they were treating more than 80 people. “Among them, 10 are seriously injured including Mohammad Nasim, the Awami League former home minister,” said deputy director of Bangladesh Medical Hospital Rouf Sarder.
The authorities had deployed thousands of police and paramilitary troops around Khaleda’s office to prevent the protest.
A 14-party alliance led by the main opposition Awami League is demanding electoral reforms ahead of January’s national elections.
The parties want the replacement of the election commissioner and his two deputies, accusing them of being partisan. They argue these officials have drawn up a flawed voter list that includes thousands of ghost voters and excludes many opposition supporters.
The opposition has staged a series of protests to press their demands for reforms which they say are essential to a free and fair election
