Notes sur le dossier : Une grève générale, « hartal », de deux jours (les 7 et 8 avril) est précédée par une manifestation du parti d’opposition Awami League, qui appelle également à la grève, i.e. à la démission du gouvernement et à la tenue d’élections anticipées. Cette manifestation s’accompagne d’affrontements pas très hartal.

Le 6 à Dacca : manifestation du parti Awami League. Affrontement. Jets de briques contre balles en caoutchouc. 5 500 policiers déployés. 50 blessés (dont par balles) dont 3 policiers. 7 magasins vandalisés.

Le 7 à Dacca : commerces, écoles, bureaux fermés ; piquets, manifestations. Affrontements avec la police aidée de partisans du gouvernement. 20b, 48a.

Le 8, 2^e jour de la grève générale.

Dacca : Manifestations, affrontements. 8 000 policiers déployés. 20b, 14a.

Narayanganj et Manikganj, « près de Dacca » : Affrontements avec des membres du Bangladesh Nationalist Party, barres de fer. 15b.

Sylhet : Affrontements. Lacrymos. 20b.

Bogra : Affrontements. 15b.

What does "hartal" mean?

"Hartal" is a Gujurati word. "Har" means "everything" or "always"; "Tal" or "tala" means "to close". The word "hartal" means a day of mourning or protest, on which all the shops are shut and no-one goes to work or does any shopping.

During India ’s struggle for independence Gandhi took up the hartal in the form of a one-day general strike and boycott of commercial activity during which people engaged in prayer and fasting.

The hartal is still a common form of protest even today - in India , Sri Lanka and Bangladesh , for example.

Kashmir on 27 March 2002: During a hartal to demand the release of nonviolent activist Yasin Malek, all the shops are shut and the streets of the major cities are deserted.

The hartal is a nonviolent method used in political conflict and participation is voluntary. It is distinguished from "bandh" or "bundh", a general strike which is enforced by the threat of violence against strike breakers. Such strikes are also common in India , Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and may be designated by some people as a "hartal".

We regard hartal as a nonviolent/"truth-forceful" way of tackling the economic causes of war, destruction of the environment and injustice. If we take a break from our everyday consumption and take time for prayer and fasting, we become aware of the part which we ourselves play in the injustice of the economic system.

A hartal day of action during which many people refrain from consumption could be a powerful sign in political and economic life.

Wed. April 07, 2004   

2-day AL hartal starts today, BNP throws countermove

Staff Correspondent

Opposition Awami League (AL) and its front organisations enforce a countrywide back-to-back dawn-to-dusk hartal from today to press for resignation of the coalition government by the month-end and snap polls.

The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) of Hasanul Haq Inu has also declared a similar shutdown programme beginning today.

Blaming the alliance government for its 'absolute failure in running the country', the AL at a central working committee meeting on March 24 called the two-day strike, first of its kind during the 30-month rule of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

AL presidium members at a meeting on April 1 however decided to take an hour off from today's dawn-to-dusk shutdown to facilitate the World Health Organisation (WHO) programmes marking International Health Day. The general strike hours today are from 6:00am to 5:00pm while tomorrow's hartal hours -- from 6:00am to 6:00pm -- remain unchanged.

Ruling BNP's city chapter yesterday meanwhile declared a series of programmes this month to thwart AL 's move to unseat the government by April 30.

The programmes include rallies from April 10 to 22 and processions and street rallies in all city

wards from April 23 to 26. A joint meeting of the city BNP will be organised on April 27. Processions and rallies will also be organised at every thana in the capital from April 28 to 30.

City BNP General Secretary Abdus Salam announced the programmes yesterday to the reporters at a joint meeting.

BNP Secretary General and LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan said, "I am not worried about the Awami League's April 30 deadline, it will be faced politically."

City BNP President and Dhaka Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka said the AL is trying to create anarchy. "We will not remain mere spectators in the face of such deadline, which is unacceptable," he said and urged the party activists to face the AL politically.

Awami Sechchasebok League (ASL), a volunteers' front of the main opposition, yesterday also brought out a procession and held a rally in front of the party headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue to garner support for the shutdown.

Among others, AL leaders Rahmat Ali and Nazma Rahman, ASL leaders Bahauddin Nasim and Pankaj Devnath addressed the rally. The opposition leaders urged people to observe the strike.

Awami Jubo League, youth front of the AL , organised a separate rally there supporting the hartal. Jubo League leaders Fazlul Haq Atiq, Amir Hossain Gazi, Mohiuddin Mohi and Noor Mohammad addressed the rally, among others. Police barred Jubo League activists from taking out a procession at the end of the rally.

The government has deployed about 5,500 law-enforcers comprising police and paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles. Besides, plainclothes police and intelligence men will keep watch on opposition activists during the hartal hours.

Our staff correspondent from Rajshahi reports: At least 50, including three policemen, were injured in armed clashes between pro- and anti-hartal activists at Puthia upazila yesterday evening.

Of the injured, bullet-hit Mizan, Joynal, Awlad, Jahangir and Dulal, all belonging to the AL , were rushed to Puthia Health complex.

Sub-inspector Dipok Kumar and constables Amirul Islam and Shahnur Rahman of Puthia Police Station were also injured in a hail of brickbats the warring parties traded. They were given first aid, police sources said.

The clashes erupted at around 6.30pm when police intercepted an Awami League procession in support of today's hartal. Later BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami activists aided by police swooped on agitating AL activists triggering the hour-long battle that also saw firefights, sources said.

Seven shops were also damaged during the clashes.

District AL General Secretary Tajul Islam Mohammed Faruk blamed the ruling alliance for the clashes.

The Star Online > Latest

Thursday, April 08, 2004

Bangladesh crippled by second anti-government strike

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP): A general strike aimed at forcing the government to resign and call early elections brought Bangladesh to a near standstill for a second straight day Thursday, as clashes left about 35 people injured.

Schools and shops were closed and most traffic halted in the capital Dhaka and more than 60 other cities and towns, police and residents said. Only rickshaws and a few public buses plied the streets.

Dozens of strike supporters rallied in central Dhaka shouting anti-government slogans, while riot police stood behind barbed-wire barricades.

No violence has so far been reported in the capital, but police and government supporters clashed with protesters in three other towns, witnesses said.

The Awami League, the country's main opposition party, called for the strikes to try and force Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's government to quit by April 30 to pave the way for early general elections, which are not due until 2006.

"We are an elected government and we shall not yield to this kind of disruptive strikes,'' Zia told a rally in eastern Bangladesh on Wednesday. "We shall remain in power until our term ends in 2006.''

General strikes are a common political tactic in Bangladesh, and many people heed strike calls for fear of retribution and violence that often breaks out during street rallies.

Authorities ordered more than 5,000 riot police and paramilitary troops onto the streets of Dhaka to guard against violence during the dawn-to-dusk strike. Security also was tightened across other cities and towns.

In Sylhet, 192 kilometers ( 120 kilometers ) northeast of Dhaka, police fired tear gas shells into hundreds of strike supporters, leaving at least 20 people injured, witnesses said.

Another 15 people were injured when members of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party allegedly attacked supporters of the strike with iron rods and sticks in Narayanganj and Manikganj towns near Dhaka, according to witnesses.

During a similar strike Wednesday, at least 20 people were injured when opposition student supporters clashed with police, and more than 40 protesters were arrested in Dhaka, police said.

Zia's four-party alliance swept the 2001 elections and it holds a two-thirds majority in the 300-member Parliament.

The Awami League has accused the government of rampant corruption and failing to curb rising crime and price hikes for food staples such as cooking oil and lentils.

The party has boycotted Parliament since last year, claiming their members aren't allowed to criticize the government.

© 1995-2003 Star Publications ( Malaysia ) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

From New Nation Online Edition

Front Page
Two-day hartal largely peaceful
By Staff Reporter
Apr 8, 2004, 13:51

The two-day dawn-to-dusk hartal enforced by the main opposition Awami League and the JSD (Inu) to press home their demand for resignation of the government by April 30 concluded yesterday without any major hassle between the law enforcers and the pickets.
The countrywide shutdown disrupted normal public life, business transaction and economic activity across the country for the second consecutive day yesterday with a night break on Wednesday.

A partial view of Farm Gate area in the city during hartal hours on Thursday. -NN photo

Although no major incidents were reported in Dhaka city, police picked up about 30 of the AL and the JSD pickets, including the Relief and Social Welfare Secretary, Prof. Nazma Raman and an activist Ms Parveen, from Bangabandhu Avenue , Muktangan and Dhanmondi areas.
Front ranking AL leader Toafil Ahmed alleged that police arrested about 300 leaders and workers of the party in the capital alone during the hartal hours last two-day. Police, however, said they arrested only 20 pickets in the capital.
Asked why his party’s pickets were limited to only two spots and of a very handful in number in the metropolis though it was campaigning to force the government within this month, he said, “Police is not allowing our activists to take to the streets”.
Witnesses said riot police kept cordoned off the AL central office at Bangabandhbu Avenue erecting birbed-wire fences, restricting party workers from nearing the office as was in the previous day.
AL Presidium members Tofail Ahmed, Begum Matia Chowdhury, Obaidul Quader, Major General (retd) Subeed Ali Bhuiyan, Mohammad Hanif, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and others staged demonstrations within the fences.
Prof. Nazma Rahman was arrested from outside the central office at around 6:30 am while Parveen at noon from the same spot. Police arrested eight pickets from a JSD procession near Mukatnagan at about 11:30 am.
Tofail Ahmed, Begum Matia Chowdhury, Obaidul Quader, Major General (retd) Subeed Ali Bhuiyan, Asaduzzaman Noor MP and Aktaruzzaman took out two processions from Zero-point, which concluded in Matijheel Commercial area after parading through Purna Paltan and Time-Bangla Crossing.
AL MPs led by senior leader of the party, Abdus Samad Azad MP staged a sit-in demonstration at Russel Square around midday amid strict police surveillance. Former Home Minister Mohammad Nasim MP, Opposition Chief Whip Vice-Principal Abdus Shaheed, Talukdar Abdul Khaleque MP, Shamsur Rahman Sharif MP and Mirza Azam MP joined the sit-in. Earlier they came in a procession out from the Parliament building parading through Asad Gate and Dhanmondi areas.
Reports from Chittagong , Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna , Barisal , Rangpur and Jessore said the hartal was by and large peaceful.
In the capital most of the shops, business establishments, shopping complexes, educational institutions and private offices were closed while a good number of motorized vehicles including buses, trucks, cars and scooters were plied on the roads without any obstacle. Ricksaw movement was almost normal.
Air and train services were normal while the day experienced reduced number of river vessel movement. Transaction in the banks of was small.
The authorities deployed some 8,000 riot police and BDR troops at strategic points in the capital to fend off any flare-up. In most of the places the law enforcers were seen relaxing. The government earlier instructed them to be careful and not to be trapped by instigators.
Both the AL and the JSD (Inu) claimed success of their two days of hartal, saying that people “spontaneously participated in the shutdown programme and expressed no-confidence in the government”.

© Copyright 2003 by ittefaq.com

20 injured, 48 held in city on first day of AL hartal

Thursday April 08 2004 10:03:35 AM BDT

At least 20 activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Juba Mahila League suffered injuries in clashes between police and pickets in the city on the first day of nation-wide two-day dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the main opposition Awami League.

Police arrested 48 pickets, including 25 women leaders and activists of Juba Mahila League and its president Nazma Akhter, from different parts of the city during the 11-hour hartal period from 6 am to 5 pm yesterday.

Some 11 activists of the BCL suffered injuries near Bahadur Shah Park at about 1 pm when a pro-hartal march brought out by Jagannath University College unit of the BCL came under attack near the college gate allegedly by the activists of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD).

Earlier, police intercepted the BCL march near Bahadur Shah Park . When the protesters were returning to the college campus, the JCD activists allegedly attacked them and beat them up leaving 11 students injured. Six of the injured BCL boys were rushed to the Sumana Clinic at Patuatuly while others were given first aid.

The main opposition Awami League had called for observing a two-day nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal for yesterday and today demanding the BNP-led alliance government to step down by April 30 to pave way for midterm polls for its failure to run the country.

The hartal was also enforced protesting, what the party said, political persecution, unabated terrorism, corruption, politicisation, deteriorating law and order situation and price hike of essential commodities.

The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu) also urged the people across the country to observe dawn-to-dusk hartals yesterday and today.

Twenty-two women activists, including Nazma Akhter, president of Juba Mahila League, were picked up from in front of Sheikh Russell Square on Mirpur Road at about 11-30 am when the youth women’s front of the Awami League brought out a procession in support of the hartal. The injured were treated at nearby clinics.

A group of AL central leaders of the Awami League and party legislators brought out a procession from Sangsad Bhaban area in support of the hartal.

The marchers included chief whip of the opposition Vice-principal Abdus Shaheed MP, Mohammad Nasim MP, Dr Abdur Razzak MP, Mirza Azam MP, Obaidul Quader and Prof Abu Sayeed. They marched up to Sheikh Russell Square at around 11-15 am when a good number of other pickets converged there, held a rally and staged peaceful demonstrations till 3-15 pm. Senior Presidium member Abdus Samad Azad MP joined the rally later.

Besides, Dr Hossain Monsur, one of the leaders of the Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA) expressed his solidarity with the hartal programme of the AL there.

Since early morning, the Awami League and its front organisations led by Begum Matia Chowdhury, Prof Nazma Rahman, Omar Ali, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya (Bir Bikram), Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, Dr Mirza A Jalil, Habibur Rahman Siraj, Pankaj Debnath, Segufta Yasmin Emily, Meher Afroze Chumki, Mohammad Selim, Mohammad Syed Khokon, MA Karim and Shahin Laskar tried to bring out procession from the besieged party central office. But, their attempts were foiled by a strong contingent of police and barbed wire fencing on both the entry points of AL central office.

Later, other leaders including Fazilaunnessa Indira, Mirza Sultan Raja, Advocate Quamrul Islam, Mukul Chowdhury, Dr Dilip Roy, Gazi Lutful Kabir Renu, Awlad Hossain, Motahar Hossain Mollah, Khandokar Rafiqur Rahman, Nasima Mantu, Abdus Salam Khan and Begum Tuhura Ali joined the demonstrators and the demonstration continued till the expiry of hartal hours.

Police also picked up an activist of Juba Mahila League identified as Mitu from in front of Moulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium at about 10-30 am when she along with a group of women pickets tried to enter the besieged party central office through the western end.

At about 11-30 am, Awami League presidium member Tofail Ahmed and organising secretary Sultan Mohammad Mansur Ahmed joined the party demonstrators inside the fencing and they took out a march with their faces wrapped in handkerchiefs to protest the government’s restrictions on exercising their political rights.

About 15-minutes after that, AL leaders Tofail Ahmed, Sultan Md Mansur Ahmed, Asaduzzaman Noor MP and AKM Jahangir Hossain MP led a pro-hartal march from Paltan crossing. Chanting various anti-government slogans, they paraded Dainik Bangla intersection, Shapla Square , Dilkusha Commercial Area and RAJUK Avenue .

Some leaders and activists of the JSD also took out a pro-hartal procession from in front of their party central office at Bangabandhu Avenue at about 11-45 pm. They paraded Nur Hossain Square and Muktangan and ended the march at the starting point.

At the fag end of the hartal, a rally was held in front of Awami League central office with AL central leader Omar Ali in the chair. Speaking at the rally, Tofail Ahmed, Begum Matia Chowdhury and Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya urged the people to make today’s 12-hour hartal from 6 am to 6 pm a success across the country.

Besides, the Awami League’s front organisations including, Awami Juba League, Awami Swechchasebak League, Krishak League, Jatiya Sramik League, Mahila Awami League, Juba Mahila League and Chhatra League organised rallies and processions yesterday at different areas of the city in support for the action programme.

In a statement yesterday, Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil congratulated the countrymen for making the yesterday’s hartal a success and urged the people irrespective of their opinions and professions to observe the hartal today.

Most of the shops, business establishments, shopping centres and educational institutions in the city remained closed. Buses did not operate on inter-district routes. However, plying of three-wheeler rickshaws was almost normal.

Some BRTC buses, mini-buses and human haulers were seen plying on some city routes with a small number of passengers.

Movement of trains, aircraft and river launches from the city was usual, according to sources.

Our Dhaka University Correspondent reports: Police arrested three BCL leaders from the University campus during the hartal hours.

The arrested were identified as joint secretary of DU unit Aparna Paul, assistant secretary of the central committee Shefali, and vice president of the DU unit Abdul Khaleq.

Protesting the arrest of the leaders, the BCL brought out a procession on the campus and later, held a rally at the DU Snacks premises in the evening.

Presided over by university unit president Delwar Hossain, the rally was addressed, among, by its central president Liaquat Shikder, Hemayet Uddin Khan Himu and Emdad Hawlader.

The BCL leaders warned that they would call indefinite strike on the DU campus from Saturday if the arrested were not release within 24 hours.

Proctor of the DU Prof AKA Firoz Ahmed informed the reporters that the authorities had talked with the police officials regarding the release of the BCL leaders.

The Independent

Thu. April 08, 2004

Stray violence marks first day of hartal

64 injured; similar strike today

Staff Correspondent

Stray bomb explosions, police-picket clashes and pre-strike violence marked the first day of the countrywide anti-government hartal yesterday called by two opposition parties demanding immediate resignation of the coalition and snap polls.

At least 64 opposition activists were injured and scores of others arrested across the country before and during the 11-hour shutdown that took hold at 6:00am.

The hartal shut most businesses, schools and offices, hampered cargo handling at the prime port and largely emptied streets of vehicles, except for pedal rickshaws and a few minibuses, in Dhaka and elsewhere, disrupting life. Authorities said train and air travel were normal.

The main opposition Awami League (AL) and Hasanul Haq Inu-led Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu) will also enforce their second day of simultaneous hartal today.

At least five students were injured in repeat attacks of the activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student front of the BNP, and police on a pro-hartal procession of Jagannath College unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student front of the AL .

Police picked up 42 AL workers, including women activists, from Russell Square , Dhaka University and other places in the capital during the hartal.

Police dispersed opposition activists in Shaympur and Bangsal in Old Dhaka when they tried to bring out processions in support of the strike.

AL leaders and workers staged demonstrations near the Russell Square in Dhanmondi, party headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue and Motijheel commercial heart of the city. The JSD (Inu) also demonstrated near Muktangon in Purana Paltan. About 7,000 riot police and paramilitary BDR members guarded the hot spots.

Police used batons to disperse the BCL procession near Bahadur Shah Park , forcing the pro-hartal students to return to their college campus where they came under the attacks of iron rod-and stick-armed JCD activists. Police arrested two BCL activists on the scene.

JCD men also barred a cameraman of Channel i from filming the violence and tried to snatch his camera. Police rescued him.

Covering their mouths with handkerchives and scarves, some 40 AL activists led by frontline leaders Tofail Ahmed and Matia Chowdhury demonstrated inside a police cordon near the party headquarters.

Opposition Chief Whip Abdus Shahid led a procession from the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban to Russell Square where opposition lawmakers staged a sit-in for several hours.

Frontline leaders Abdus Samad Azad, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Nasim, Obaidul Quader, Dr Abdur Razzak, Abu Sayeed, Jahangir Kabir Nanok, Mirza Azam, Talukder Abdul Khaleq and Shahjahan Khan addressed the gathering.

Police picked up 13 women workers, including Juba Mohila League President Nazma Akhtar, from a procession near Russell Square .

Tofail Ahmed and Asaduzzaman Noor led a procession from Noor Hossain Square that marched through Paltan Square , Dainik Bangla and Motijheel and staged a rally on Rajuk Avenue .

Police arrested two people at Sayedabad rail-crossing at about 1:00pm after two bomb explosions.

The strike hampered cargo handling in Chittagong port and kept most vehicles off the streets. Pickets at Askergihir Par and Muradpur damaged at least six autorickshaws in the morning.

Our staff correspondent from Rajshahi adds: Pro-hartal pickets beat up bikers and rickshaw-pullers during the shutdown.

Pre-hartal violence in Puthia injured about 50 people, including three policemen, and police yesterday arrested four AL activists in a case they filed against 46 activists of the party, including upazila unit President Abdul Latif and General Secretary Golam Faruk.

Our Barisal correspondent says: Pro-hartal pickets damaged numbers of vehicles and exploded bombs in the run-up to the strike.

Our Gaibandha correspondent reports: On the eve of yesterday's hartal police fired eight rubber bullets to break a clash between activists from a pro- and an anti-hartal processions. Milon, 18, an activist of the BCL, was injured in the violence.

Our Pabna correspondent adds: Eight people were injured in a clash between AL and BNP activists during hartal hours yesterday.

Incensed activists of both parties ransacked some vehicles and shops at Alhaj Moor in Ishwardi.

Fri. April 09, 2004

AL 's two-day hartal ends

Staff Correspondent

The two-day dawn-to-dusk hartal across the country called by the main opposition Awami League (AL) ended yesterday amid stray violence, disrupting life for the second consecutive day.

The hartal was part of the AL agitation to press for immediate resignation of the BNP-led coalition government and snap polls.

Hasanul Haq Inu-led Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD- Inu) also called a simultaneous hartal on the same demands.

The hartal shut most businesses, educational institutions and offices, hampered cargo handling at the ports and largely emptied streets of vehicles, except for pedal rickshaws and a few minibuses, in Dhaka and elsewhere, disrupting life. Authorities said train and air travels were normal.

At least 35 leaders and workers of the AL and the JSD-Inu and their front organisations were injured when police swooped on AL processions in Sylhet and a JSD procession in Bogra.

In Dhaka , police arrested 16 AL and JSD pickets from Bangabandhu Avenue , Muktangan and Dhanmondi.

AL Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Prof Nazma Rahman was picked by police and released later.

Opposition Chief Whip and AL leader Abdus Shahid led a procession from the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban to Russell Square . Party lawmakers then staged a three-hour sit-in at the square from noon.

AL leaders Abdus Samad Azad, Mohammad Nasim, Obaidul Quader, Dr Abdur Razzak, Faruk Khan, Mirza Azam, Talukder Abdul Khaleq and Shahjahan Khan addressed the gathering.

During the sit-in, three crackers were hurled about 25 yards away. None was injured.

Nazma Rahman was picked up from near the AL central office when she tried to enter it in the morning, ignoring police obstruction.

Police arrested 10 JSD activists from a party procession near the Zero Point.

Police prevented AL activists and hartal supporters from gathering on the AL office premises and on Bangabandhu Avenue throughout the day yesterday. They barricaded the road in front of the party office with barbed wire fences since early morning.

AL leaders Tofail Ahmed, Motia Chowdhury, Mohammad Hanif, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and others staged demonstrations within the fenced area.

A procession led by AL lawmakers Asaduzzaman Noor and Akhtaruzzaman from Muktangan was chased by police and party worker Jahangir Alam was arrested.

A procession led by Tofail Ahmed marched through Purana Paltan, Dainik Bangla Crossing and Stadium areas. Police later chased the participants in the procession.

About 7,000 riot police and paramilitary BDR personnel along with plainclothes police guarded strategic points in the capital.

The AL said, people 'spontaneously responded to the hartal call'. Our staff correspondent in Khulna reports: Hartal disrupted normal work of jute mills at Khalishpur and Atra industrial belts as about 80 per cent workers were absent. Cargo handling at Mongla port remained suspended during the hartal hours.

Our staff correspondent in Chittagong reports: Chittagong port operated partially and no untoward incident took place in the city during the hartal hours.

Our Bogra correspondent says: At least 15 leaders and activists of the JSD-Inu, including Sramik Jote leader Mokbur Hossain, were injured when police charged baton on a party procession at Satmatha in the town.

Witnesses said police swooped on the JSD procession as it tried to march through a police barricade.

UNB reports from Sylhet: Some 20 leaders and workers of the AL and its front organisations were injured in police action on processions in the city during the hartal hours.

The injured include district Shechhasebak League President Subroto Purkayastha.

Partial Shutdown in Bangladesh
Imran Rahman, Arab News

DHAKA , 9 April 2004 — Clashes, bomb blasts and arrests in the capital marked the second day of the two-day general strike called by the opposition, but the call for a complete shutdown was largely ignored.

At least 20 people were injured when police used batons to disperse a students’ rally taken out from the Jagannat University College in the afternoon.

Police also arrested more than a dozen Awami League workers, including women activists, from Dhanmondi and outside Dhaka University .

The shutdown — for 11 hours beginning at 6 a .m. on the first day on Wednesday and for 12 hours yesterday — was called separately by Awami League and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal to press the government to hold snap elections.

Police picked up 11 workers, including Juba Mohila League leader Nazma Akhtar, from Dhanmondi and three female activists, including Arpana, joint secretary of Dhaka University unit of Bangladesh Chattra League, from the Dhaka University campus area in the morning.

Police also arrested three people after two bomb blasts at Syedabad rail crossing in the afternoon.

Awami League leaders Tofail Ahmed and Begum Matia Chowdhury led the protest in front of the party’s central office.

Awami League MPs, led by opposition chief whip Abdus Shahid, brought out a procession and staged a sit-in near Dhanmondi Road 32.

At Dholaikhal in old Dhaka , police chased pro-strike elements when they tried to bring out a procession in the area.

Reports from Chittagong , Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna and Barisal said the general strike was by and large peaceful.

In Dhaka city, most shops, business establishments, shopping complexes, schools and private offices were open while buses and trucks, although few in numbers, plied on the roads.

A huge number of rickshaws plied during the general strike. Officials said train and air services were normal.

Authorities had deployed some 8,000 riot police and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troops at strategic points in the capital to avert any violence. Troops were deployed at natural gas and power stations at the country’s main southeastern Chittagong Port and at a nearby oil refinery.

A spokesman for the government’s Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate said the troop deployment at key installations was “made to assist the civil administration.” The spokesman declined to elaborate.

The opposition has called on the government to quit, accusing it of failing to tackle rampant crime and corruption. The government says it inherited a bad law and order situation from the previous Awami League government.

The strikes have prompted representatives of the United Nations and the US and British governments to voice alarm over growing political turmoil in the South Asian nation.

Thu. April 22, 2004

Vol. 4 Num 319

Cops seal off Hawa Bhaban area, AL HQ
Agitators fight pitched battle with police, 200 picked
Staff Correspondent

Awami League lawmaker Mirza Azam falls onto the ground as police lobbed teargas shells at a gathering of the main opposition party activists at Paltan in Dhaka yesterday. PHOTO: STAR

Police yesterday sealed Gulistan, Bangabandhu Avenue and Banani areas off to traffic and opposition activists to scuttle their high-profile move to besiege Hawa Bhaban and clubbed scores of anti-government demonstrators wherever they gathered, leaving at least 40 wounded.

Law-enforcers clubbed and tear-gassed opposition activists who gathered at Paltan Maidan -- the rescheduled venue for assembly of the the opposition activists after Bangabandhu Avenue was sealed off -- in their abortive bid to lay siege to Hawa Bhaban, office of ruling BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and allegedly the alternative powerhouse, in Banani.

Front organisations of the Awami League (AL) enforced the programme for what they said was to put a stop to Hawa Bhaban, which ' is the centre of unbridled corruption and ill practices'.

Police clamped down a virtual curfew in the one square kilometres area around Hawa Bhaban and prevented leaders and activists of main opposition AL and its front organisations from laying the siege. They also barred workers of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu) from marching towards the Prime Minister's Office, scheduled for yesterday afternoon.

Bangabandhu Avenue , Zero Point in Gulistan and Banani were off-limits to commuters from early morning in police action that also confined residents indoors and brought business operations to a halt.

As the leaders and workers of the AL and its front organisations started converging on Paltan Maidan, riot and plainclothes police charged batons and fired teargas canisters and foiled every attempt of the demonstrators to gather and take out processions.

At least 40 people including AL 's youth front Awami Jubo League General Secretary Mirza Azam and The Inquilab photojournalist Shafiuddin Bitu were wounded in the police swoop. Police also picked up some 200 opposition activists from the city including Paltan, Mouchak, Central Shahid Minar areas.

A foot march of Hasanul Haq Inu-led JSD towards the Prime Minister's Office at about 4:00pm was also dispersed when it was passing Noor Hossain Square area. 

BANANI SITUATION
Police put up barbed-wire barricades on all four main avenues leading to Hawa Bhaban, located on road number 13, block D in Banani and BNP leaders and workers played cricket in the ground adjacent to Hawa Bhaban. Residents, businesspeople, office workers and commuters going through Banani area said police continually harassed them.

People, who have their offices, schools and universities in Banani, were not allowed to enter Banani despite showing IDs. Vehicles driving from Tejgaon link-road area toward Gulshan-1 and Gulshan-2 circles were also barred from proceeding further and diverted towards Badda at the point of National Shooting Complex in Gulshan.

A businessman, who had to run his office on Road No. 15 in Banani without any staff, said police did not allow anyone to go to his office.

"I was harassed irrationally when I was trying to enter my office at 9.30am. They swept my car, my bag and told me to return home. I shouted and argued until a high police official came," he added.

"I argued whether they would pay for the losses I would incur because of their illogical behaviour and after I answered to their query if I were the tenant of the office space, they finally let me in. But they said nobody else will be allowed to go to my office."

Police vans ceaselessly patrolled the area to stop pedestrians and instructed them to either go back to their homes or outside the area immediately.

"I came with my wife for an urgent appointment with a doctor at a clinic on Road No. 8, but police stopped me and said even the doctor was not allowed to enter the area," said Abdur Rahim. "Now she will have to suffer until a further appointment."

Commuters who tried to enter Gulshan 1 and 2 through Tejgaon Link Road were waylaid at the roadblock in front of National Shooting Complex and diverted towards Badda.

Traffic clogged the Airport Road despite sparse traffic around the city, as police blocked all alternative roads through Gulshan. 

PALTAN MAIDAN PITCHED BATTLE
At Paltan Maidan, the demonstrators fought pitched battle with police for hours from 3:30pm, who chased the demonstrators at least 12 times. Prior to the police attack, Mirza Azam, also an MP, told reporters that the programme was successful. "Police and BNP cadres sealed off the entire Dhaka city and confined its one crore people," he said.

The law-enforcers also sealed off all entries to the AL headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue with barbed-wire fences and mounted guard since morning. "We are just carrying out the orders of government high-ups," said an on-duty police official without elaborating.

Armed police also forced shopkeepers to close their businesses and hawkers to pack up and leave the place. Locked were the gates of adjacent Ramna Bhaban Market.

All modes of vehicles on the road between Noor Hossain Square and Golap Shah Mazar were also stopped.

Leaders and activists of Awami Jubo League, Sramik League and Krishok League began to gather at different places near Paltan Maidan from 2:00pm and by 3:30pm a few hundred people gathered at the south end of Paltan Maidan. Scores of opposition workers were roaming the adjacent areas in separate groups. At 3:40pm, police chased and dispersed the protesters. A few minuets later, police attacked a procession of Bangladesh Chhatra League in front of the Rajuk Bhaban.

MORE POLICE SWOOP
Police cordoned an opposition gathering led by Mirza Azam and barred the activists from taking out a procession from the VIP gate of Bangabandhu National Stadium. They charged batons to disperse the gathering and picked up at least five from the scene.

At about 4:00pm, Ahsanullah Master MP and Krishok League President Mirza Jalil reached the spot and along with Mirza Azam once again tried to bring out a procession. Police foiled the attempt and dragged a few others to the police van.

The demonstrators encircled the van when it was speeding from the area with a fellow activist. The demonstrators tried to snatch away the worker from the van, prompting the law-enforcers to fire at least 10 rounds of tear shells, injuring Mirza Azam as one of the shells hit him in the abdomen. Opposition workers rushed him to a city clinic.

Police also attacked a procession of Awami Sechhasebak League near Mouchak crossing at about 3:45pm. Angry demonstrators damaged a number of cars in protest.

2004-04-22,  Politics,  matamat
Police foils AL 's Hawa Bhaban siege programme: Dhaka sealed

Opposition activists, repelled from marching on Hawa Bhaban, fought with riot police on the streets on Wednesday as Dhaka looked like a besieged city.

Police fired teargas shells and charged baton to disperse the angry activists in Paltan Maidan, Motijheel, Malibagh and Dhaka Medical College Hospital areas, leaving dozens injured and many arrested.

A dozen Awami League front organizations declared the siege on allegation that the Hawa Bhaban, political office of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, is the informal seat of power that “patronizes corruption and terrorism”.

Witnesses said thousands of police in full riot gear were posted at strategic points throughout the city and barbed- wire fences blocked important roads to foil the siege to Hawa Bhaban.
A foolproof security measure was taken in Banani, and all roads leading to Hawa Bhaban at Road no. 13 were almost sealed restricting movement of pedestrians and vehicles.

Witnesses said Juba League workers went berserk and fought with police near Paltan Maidan at around 3:30 PM. Police fired several rounds of teargas shells to calm the brick-throwing activists.

Juba League general secretary Mirza Azam MP was wounded being hit by a tear shell and admitted to Samarita Hospital . Sramik League president Ahsanullah Master MP was also reported injured in the melee.

Police charged baton on the workers of Swecchasebak League near Malibagh rail crossing while they were proceeding in a procession to join the march towards Hawa Bhaban through Rampura. Several people were injured and picked up from there.

At around 3:20 PM, female workers of Chhatra League tried to take out a procession from near DMCH area, but police broke them up and held a few, including BCL vice-president Marufa Akhtar Poppy, Shefali and Munni.

Police also chased opposition workers at Nawabpur Road and arrested several demonstrators.

Witnesses said Awami League central office was kept under siege as police blocked entire Bangabandhu Avenue from morning.

Tarique plays cricket with comrades

Tarique Rahman, senior joint secretary-general of the ruling BNP, Wednesday dismissed the complaint of corruption and terrorism against Hawa Bhaban, asking his party’s opponents to specify the sweeping allegations.

“It’s politics of falsehood of Awami League. Why don’t you ask them if they have any evidence? Let them speak specifically if they can,” he told reporters at the playground close by the Bhaban in question where he and his younger brother played cricket, apparently to play down political concerns.

Asked why he preferred to play cricket on the day Awami League’s front organizations decided lay a siege to Hawa Bhaban, Tarique retorted: “ All wanted to play, so we played.”

Asked if he finds any similitude between cricket and politics, he said, “No”. The two are different subjects, he added.

When his reaction was sought over the Opposition’s siege programme, the up-and-coming BNP leader avoided a direct answer, saying, with a smile, “Today I won the match and I feel good.”

Tarique and his younger brother Araft Rahman led the two teams, and the elder won the friendly match.

Replying to a question about the opposition demand for midterm election, the BNP leader said nothing happened in the country that calls for such snap polls.

According to democratic process and constitution, election will be held every five years. People of the country who are source of all powers would take decision after five years as to who will run the country.

The demand for midterm election is only the demand of a single party, he said, other political parties or people did not ask for it. “ I don’t think that they (AL) possess that power for taking such a big decision.”

World News > 7,000 arrested in crackdown on Bangladeshi opposition

Dhaka , Apr 23 (IANS) :

A bid to crack down on the Bangladesh opposition's anti-government protests continues, with over 3,000 more arrested here over Thursday and Friday.
Riot police raided different city areas and bus and rail terminals and continued to arrest people. Police have now apprehended about 7,000 people in the capital in the last four days.

Main opposition Awami League headed by Sheikh Hasina has threatened to oust the coalition government led by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party by the end of April.

"People are scared of going to Dhaka as police is arresting people at random without warrants," said a journalist based in southern district of Khulna.

The authorities in Dhaka central jail and Dhaka magistracy are feeling the pressure of dealing with so many arrested people. Thousands of people gathered outside the jail and the magistrate's court, inquiring about their relatives.

The Awami League, demanding a mid-term election, tried to demonstrate in eight constituencies in Dhaka Friday, but a huge contingent of police thwarted its efforts, not permitting anyone to assemble, witnesses said.

The party accuses the government of corruption, describing it as inefficient and repressive. The prime minister and her party, which is half way through its five-year tenure, have rejected the accusations and refused to quit.

The Daily Star

Vol. 4 Num 322

Sun. April 25, 2004

AL 's no-confidence day foiled by tough cops
AL to march towards JS today; Hartal on April 28-29; BNP takes to street to counter opposition
Staff Correspondent

Awami League (AL) lawmaker Asaduzzaman Noor tries to free a woman activist as she resists arrest by policewomen in the city's Motijheel commercial heart yesterday, the first day of AL's three-day agitation expressing 'no-confidence' in the government. PHOTO: STAR

Wholesale arrests, barricades and highhandedness by police foiled the first day of main opposition Awami League's ( AL ) three-day 'mass no-confidence programme' in the city yesterday as part of its plan to overthrow the government by April 30.

The AL has called countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartals for April 28 and 29 and a nationwide agitation programme on April 27 at a press briefing last night in protest at the mass arrests and demanding resignation of government and mid-term elections. The 'mass no-confidence programme' will continue today and tomorrow.

As part of the previously announced programme, AL MPs will march toward parliament today that coincides with the resumption of the adjourned 11th session, demanding withdrawal of the proposed 14th amendment bill to the constitution.

The ruling BNP meanwhile has also announced a programme to head off the AL agitation politically, directing its activists in every ward of Dhaka city to control the streets till April 30.

More than 10,000 people have been arrested in the last few days and 6,000 of the arrestees have been taken to court while the rest have been released.

The government also directed the law-enforcement agencies in the districts surrounding Dhaka to be on a red alert to prevent an influx of AL workers into the capital to participate in the anti-government agitation programme.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday discussed at her office with State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar security arrangements ahead of the April 30 deadline, sources said.

Massive police deployment yesterday prevented the AL leaders and workers from gathering at possible flashpoints around the city, including Zero Point, Motijheel Shapla Chattar, Tejgaon crossing and Dhanmondi road No. 27.

Police made 27 arrests from the small number of AL leaders and workers that did gather at the four spots and kept the opposition adherents at bay.

SHAPLA CHATTAR

At 10:00am, police evicted all small tea-shops from the area and picked up seven people from around the area. The arrestees told The Daily Star that they were neither AL members nor its supporters.

At around 11:15am, former Dhaka mayor Mohammed Hanif and central committee member Asaduzzaman Noor joined other AL workers and sat on the footpath adjoining the roundabout as some 100 policemen kept a close watch on the gathering.

The policemen dragged two Jubo Mohila League (JML) workers, Biplobi and Rina, onto the police van, prompting Noor to jostle with the police to free the workers, but the van drove away with the two activists .

Hanif and Noor condemned the 13 arrests made in the area and told journalists that 'the uncivilised government' was not even letting them stand and the workers to join a peaceful protest.

The protest fizzled out from 2:00pm and no worker was seen in the area in the afternoon.

ZERO POINT

Huge numbers of policemen and women were deployed at Zero Point from the early hours. As top AL leaders including Motia Chowdhury, Sohel Taj, Meher Afroz Chumki and Tahura Ali tried to take position on a nearby road-island, police intercepted them and an altercation between the police and AL leaders followed. It continued for a while as police insisted that they leave the area right away.

Later, senior AL leaders including Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Tofail Ahmed, Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, Amir Hossain Amu, Suranjit Sengupta, Obaidul Kader, Mukul Bose, Mofazzel Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Nazma Rahman, Sayeed Khokon, Omar Ali and Salauddin Badal positioned themselves around the area.

Police tried to arrest General Secretary of Kapasia Thana unit of AL Ruhul Amin, triggering a struggle between the police and MP Sohel Taj. At one point, when police took Sohel Taj into their custody, Motia, Ruhul Amin and Taj got on the police van and refused to budge.

The police drove them away and dropped them back at Zero Point after 15 minutes. Police however went on to arrest four people, including a woman worker named Roksana, in front of the General Post Office.

BANGABANDHU AVENUE

Apart from failing of the AL activists to form a human chain, police prevented any attempt to gather in front of or around the party's headquarters. As soon as a group of AL leaders and workers came out of the headquarters, riot police pushed them back.

RUSSELL SQUARE , DHANMONDI, ROAD NO 27

A large police contingent, deployed in Russell Square and areas close by, foiled efforts by senior AL leaders to congregate on road number 32 and arrested three men from the area, none of whom were identified as AL leaders or workers.

At around 10:00am, police pinned AL leader Abdul Matin to the ground after kicking him during a chase to arrest AL leader Matin, who was with AL Agricultural Secretary Dr Abdur Razzaq and former state minister for information Abu Sayeed.

As Sayeed and Razzaq jostled with the police to free Matin, several AL workers were surrounded by the law-enforcers. Sayeed negotiated with the police to free Matin while AL workers moved to the mouth of Dhanmondi road No. 27 and sat there.

Later, as police tried to take Kamrul Ahsan Bari into their custody, several AL leaders including Abu Sayeed struggled with undercover and riot policemen to free Bari . Police however later released Bari .

A small number of JML activists also shouted slogans in front of the residence of AL leader Mohammed Nasim on Dhanmondi road number 11/A but were scared off by a strong contingent of policewomen.

AL BRIEFING

At the AL press briefing at its Dhanmondi office last night, the party's General Secretary Abdul Jalil condemned the police crackdown on the peaceful 'no-confidence' programme.

"We tried this alternative programme to hartals, but the government not only arrested 10,000 of our workers, but also innocent civilians coming to Dhaka . So, we have had to resort to our old programme of hartal to protest the government activities," Jalil elaborated on the two-day shutdown programme.

SIMULTANEOUS JSD PROGRAMME

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu) also took out a 'mass procession' from its office yesterday as a simultaneous programme to AL 's "mass no-confidence programme."

At a rally before the procession, JSD-Inu President Hasanul Haq Inu said the agitation against the government cannot be suppressed through wholesale arrests and spreading panic among the people.

"The agitation will continue till the government is removed from office," added Inu, who also demanded formation of a national coalition government.

2004-04-29,  Politics,  matamat

Stray incidents mark first day hartal in Dhaka
Bombs explode in capital during first day of 2-day hartal

Scattered bomb blasts, street demonstrations by pro-hartal activists and baton charges by police marked the first few hours of the dawn-to-dusk hartal that disrupted normal life in the capital Wednesday.
Awami League called the countrywide daytime hartal for today and tomorrow (Thursday) to press for resignation of the government, clearing the way for snap polls.
Shops, shopping malls, educational institutions and private offices were closed while most automobiles went off the streets during the hartal.
Authorities deployed riot police and paramilitary BDR to guard important installations and strategic points and maintain law and order.
Witnesses said 3-4 cocktails were exploded on the eastern side of the Chief Justice house around 12:15 pm. After a while, several cocktails were exploded near Rampura BTV Bhaban. However, none was injured in the explosions.
Awami League leaders staged demonstrations at designated places like party central office at Bangabandhu Avenue , Dainik Bangla crossing and Russell Square near Dhanmondi Road No. 32.
Asaduzzaman Noor MP, Mahmudur Rahman Manna and Akhtaruzzaman faced police obstruction as they tried to bring out a procession at Dainik Bangla crossing. There was also scuffle between Noor and police over the arrest of some party workers. Police charged batons to disperse the workers.
There was also another hassle between Noor and police as he tried to proceed towards Naya Paltan along with AL female workers in a procession.
Begum Matia Chowdhury, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and others staged demonstration outside the Awami League central office besieged by riot police.
At Russell Square , party leaders Abdus Samad Azad, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Nasim, opposition chief whip Abdus Shaheed, Col (retd) Farooq Khan and others staged street protest with police around them.
No major incident was reported from outside Dhaka till 2 PM.