DHAKA, 29 December 2006 — Around 150 people were injured as supporters of former army ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad battled with police in northern Bangladesh yesterday, witnesses said.
The army was called in to help curb the violence, which erupted during a daylong strike in Ershad’s hometown of Rangpur and four nearby districts a day after authorities rejected the ex-dictator’s applications to contest next month’s elections.
“It has been a running battle with protesters attacking government offices and vehicles,” one witness said by telephone.
“Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets trying to disperse stone-throwing and stick-carrying Ershad supporters. About 150 people have been injured,” he said.
Local officials said the army was deployed around noon to assist police and paramilitary troops by patrolling the streets and also chasing protesters.
Ershad’s supporters called the strike after election officials on Wednesday declared his application to contest five constituencies in the Jan. 22 ballot “unacceptable” due to legal troubles he faces over corruption charges.
It paralyzed all five districts, known to be a stronghold of Ershad, who ruled Bangladesh for nine years until December 1990 and followed protests on Wednesday when supporters wrecked vehicles and vandalized local election and district administration offices.
“The protests yesterday are far more violent,” said a local reporter. “The town has not seen such fury for many years.” Ershad, leader of the Jatiya Party, is now allied with former Prime Minister Hasina Wajed’s Awami League, the main opposition party for the past five years to Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh National Party.
Ershad, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1982, was ousted in a people’s revolt led jointly by Khaleda and Hasina.
