DHAKA, 11 January 2007 — Tens of thousands of troops took up positions across violence-wracked Bangladesh yesterday as the Awami League-led opposition alliance called nonstop protests to prevent elections from taking place.
“Troops, with powers to arrest anyone without any warrant, were deployed today to keep law and order before and during the elections,” one defense official told Reuters yesterday.
A Home Ministry spokesman said the deployment to all of Bangladesh’s 64 districts and some 500 sub-districts had been completed.
European and US envoys shuttling between rival political camps have said the elections will not be credible and acceptable to the international community without the participation of all major parties. Adding to their concern, the US-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the International Republican Institute said yesterday they had suspended plans to monitor the elections.
President Iajuddin Ahmed, who is also constitutional head of the armed forces, asked the army to actively assist the civil administration from Jan. 10 and to maintain order throughout the poll until power was transferred to the elected government.
The move, a regular feature of Bangladeshi election preparations, comes amid mounting protests and opposition plans to boycott the polls. Rights groups have also criticized the deployment plan, saying army officers could abuse their power to arrest. “The army will combat crimes, ensure uninterrupted economic activities, recover illegal arms and weapons and ensure that polls are held in a congenial atmosphere,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, addressing a rally in Dhaka, Awami League leader and former Prime Minister Hasina Wajed vowed yesterday to stage more strikes and blockades to scuttle the poll. “We are determined not to allow a one-sided election in the country,” said Hasina, adding that the “boycott of the election is aimed at preserving democracy and the people’s right to vote.”
Hasina and her allies have called on President Iajuddin to resign and for election officials to be removed, accusing them of bias toward the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) led by immediate past Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. They also want an overhaul of the voters’ list and a new election schedule.
Khaleda told an election rally at Chandina, 100 km southeast of Dhaka, that voters must “resist those who want to stop the election and destroy democracy and the country. They (political rivals) have rights to boycott, but they have no right to resist election.”
“If they (the interim authority and Election Commission) still hold the ballot on Jan. 22, I announce that the countrywide strike will continue nonstop, indefinitely,” Hasina told supporters.
She urged state officials and security forces “not to pitch themselves against the freedom and democracy-loving people by siding with the corrupt and dishonest politicians.” Hasina urged supporters to stage a countrywide protest today against police excesses during the most recent blockade as well as an indefinite blockade of roads leading to the presidential palace from Jan. 14. She also called for a nationwide transport shutdown on Jan. 14-15 and 17-18, and a general strike on Jan. 21-22.
“Only God knows where we are heading to,” said one disgruntled government official.
Police Tear-Gas Factory Workers
Police fired tear gas yesterday to disperse thousands of workers who ransacked garment factories and torched cars after hearing two union leaders were beaten to death by business owners, police said.
