Sat Aug 21, 2:43 PM ET

Bangladeshi riot police us tear-gas to disperse angry crowds following a blast outside the main opposition party the Awami League's office in Dhaka . At least nine people were killed and as many as 80 injured when several blasts ripped through a Bangladeshi opposition party rally.(AFP/Farjana K. Godhuly)

From New Nation Online Edition

Breaking News
Series of grenade blasts rock AL rally: 14 killed: Nasim, Suranjeet, Ivy Rahman, Razzak, Amu, Sheikh Selim among 200 injured: Hasina’s bodyguard among dead
By Staff Reporter
Aug 21, 2004, 14:43

A series of grenade blasts at the end of a scheduled Awami League rally in capital's Bangabandhu Avenue yesterday left at least 14 people killed and nearly 200 injured, including dozens of senior and local AL leaders.

The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped unhurt and was whisked away by security personnel as the powerful blasts rocked the area leaving the victims screaming on the streets and sidewalks in a pool of blood.
No one claimed responsibility of the deadly grenade attack near the crowded dais, which witnesses and police sources said were lobbed from nearby buildings minutes after Sheikh Hasina concluded her speech at the rally, ironically protesting recent bomb blasts in Sylhet.
Among the dead were two female local AL party leaders, sources at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) confirmed, but feared the death toll could rise as several of the wounded hospitalised were in critical condition.
This is the worst and deadly explosion at a political rally of Awami League, since June 16, 2001 when bomb blast at AL office in Narayanganj left at least 22 people dead and scores injured.
Among the dead victims 11 were identified. They were as Rafiqul Islam, 60, vice president of AL Ward No-24, Sufia, 38, joint secretary of Hazaribagh Mohila Awami League, Hasina Momtaj alias Rina, 38, president of Mohila Awami League of Ward No-15, Mahbub, 45, a body guard of Sheikh Hasina, Liton, 35, Abul Kashem, 50, Moazzem Hossain, 50, Zahid Ali, 15, Momin, 35, Ratan, 35 and Kala Sentu. Other dead victims were yet to be identified till late yesterday night.
Among the injured were senior Awami League leaders Ivy Rahman, Amir Hossain Amu, Suranjit Sen Gupta, Mohammad Nasim, Prof. Abu Sayeed, Md. Hanif, Mohiddin Khan Alamgir, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Sheikh Selim, Bahauddin Nasim and Mirza Azam MP. Most of them are under treatment in DMCH and other hospitals and clinics.
Condition of Ivy Rahman, wife of former AL General Secretary Zillur Rahman, was stated to be serious at DMCH with both of her legs were badly hit, hospital sources said, adding she might be shifted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mojib Medical University Hospital later in the night.
Several journalists both from print and electronic media and police personnel were also injured in the incident.
Among the wounded journalists were Mohammad Alam of Ittefaq, Mamun Ahmed of Bhorer Kagoj, SM Gorki of Jugantar, Mir Farid of Janakhantha, Ashraful Alam and Zakir (cameraman) of Channel-I and Sayed Reaz of ATN.
While, most private television channels showed details video footage of the ghastly blasts and its aftermath in their main news bulletins, the state-owned BTV failed to give necessary priority of the deadly bomb blasts.

Witnesses said, powerful bombs and grenades were thrown targeting the areas surrounding the dais when the Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina just completed her speech at about 5.20 pm.
The rally was organised to protest against the recent bomb explosion in Sylhet and the police action in Gopalganj against AL leaders and workers.
Security personnel immediately formed a shield around Sheikh Hasina before she was taken to safety unhurt.
Injured were rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital as well as other city hospitals and clinics.
After the incident, this correspondent found several lives hand grenades were still lying scattered on the ground in front of the Awami League central office. Police cordoned off the area. Two of the live grenades exploded later at about 6.20 pm sparking fresh panic in the area.
Police intelligence sources said after the incident, police recovered one gunny bag of live grenades from a nearby City Building during a police search.
The evening incident sparked an immediate protest from attending AL workers and supporters who went on rampage damaging nearby market buildings and setting on fire passing vehicles.
Reports of sporadic violence and clashes with police and AL workers were reported from several parts of the capital and some district towns.
Police and witnesses said more than 100 vehicles including buses were damaged by fire or in stoning.
Witnesses said, five vehicles, including one Volvo double-decker bus were set ablaze at GPO, four in northern gate of Baitul Mukarram Mosque and one parked BRTC bus at Palton Maidan.
Police swung into action, lobbed a huge number of tear gas cells and charged batons to disperse the agitated crowd and party activists.
Most private vehicles went off the roads as the panic gripped most parts of Dhaka city.
A large contingent of police, BDR, RAB and plain cloth police were deployed to guard important installations and patrol the city streets as tension went high.
Sheikh Hasina condemned the grenade attack on AL rally and reiterated her call for immediate resignation of the government.
Party General Secretary Abdul Jalil termed the attack on the life of Sheikh Hasina and called for nationwide protest hartals on August 24 and 25.
Khalil, a witness said, when the bombs went off one after another, panic was spread among the crowed. Shops, business establishments and offices were shut down immediately.
© Copyright 2003 by ittefaq.com

Gewaltwelle nach Anschlag auf Opposition mit 19 Toten
erstellt 22.08.04, 18:51h

Eine Serie von Bombenexplosionen mit mindestens 19 Toten und 200 Verletzten bei einer Oppositionskundgebung hat in Bangladesch eine Welle der Gewalt ausgelöst. Als Reaktion auf die Anschläge in der Hauptstadt Dhaka setzten Oppositionsanhänger am Sonntag rund 150 Kilometer weiter östlich nahe der Stadt Bhairab einen Passagierzug in Brand. Dabei seien mindestens 17 Menschen verletzt worden, teilten die Behörden mit. Polizisten umstellten die Waggons, um Rettungskräften die Suche nach Eingeschlossenen zu ermöglichen. Nach den Anschlägen am Samstag war es in Dhaka und der Hafenstadt Chittagong im Süden des Landes zu schweren Ausschreitungen von Oppositionsanhängern gekommen.

Während einer Rede von Oppositionsführerin Sheikh Hasina vor rund 30 000 Anhängern waren am Samstag drei Bomben und mehrere Handgranaten gezündet worden. Die Vorsitzende der Awami Liga und frühere Premierministerin Hasina erlitt bei dem Anschlag Verletzungen am Trommelfell. Sie sprach von einem gegen sie und andere Parteiführer gerichteten Mordkomplott der national-islamischen Regierungskoalition und forderte den Rücktritt der Regierung. Diese lehnte jede Verantwortung für die Tat ab, zu der sich zunächst niemand bekannte.

Bundesaußenminister Joschka Fischer verurteilte den Anschlag vom Samstag «auf das Schärfste». Es müsse alles getan werden, damit die Bluttat aufgeklärt und die Täter zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden könnten, hieß es in einer Mitteilung des Auswärtigen Amtes. Fischer war bei seiner Asien-Reise im Juli mit Hasina zusammengekommen.

Bei dem Anschlag starben zunächst 16 Menschen, 3 weitere erlagen am Sonntag ihren Verletzungen. Unter den Schwerverletzten sind rund 50 Parteifunktionäre. Auch zwölf Polizisten und zwei Kameramänner wurden verletzt. Die Anhänger der Awami Liga hatten sich versammelt, um gegen frühere Bombenanschläge mutmaßlicher muslimischer Extremisten in der Stadt Sylhet zu demonstrieren, bei denen vor kurzem zwölf Menschen getötet worden waren.

Unmittelbar nach den Explosionen kam es zu schweren Ausschreitungen. Anhänger der Awami Liga plünderten Länden und zündeten Busse und Autos an. Die Polizei setzte Tränengas und Gummigeschosse gegen die Randalierer ein. Zur Unterstützung der Sicherheitskräfte wurden Grenzschutztruppen nach Dhaka gerufen.

22/08/2004 11:18 -

Bangladesh-attentat

DACCA (AFP) - Bangladesh: tentative d'assassinat contre la dirigeante de l'opposition

La police patrouillait Dacca dimanche après que la dirigeante de l'opposition du Bangladesh eut échappé à une tentative d'assassinat lors d'un attentat contre un meeting de son parti qui a fait 18 morts, selon un de ses collaborateurs.

La circulation était rare dans la capitale, de crainte d'une reprise des affrontements de la nuit entre manifestants et policiers qui ont suivi l'attentat qualifié de "barbare" par le parti gouvernemental. La police anti-émeutes bloquait les rues autour du siège de la Ligue Awami , principal parti de l'opposition.

Sa dirigeante, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, a été légèrement blessées aux jambes par balles samedi après que des grenades eurent été lancées contre une foule réunie pour une manifestation anti-gouvernementale devant le siège du parti, a déclaré son secrétaire politique Saber Hussain Chowdhury. "Une série de grenades a explosé à intervalle de cinq à sept secondes offrant une couverture de fumée aux attaquants. Alors qu'elle (Sheik Hasina) était emmenée par ses gardes du corps, sa voiture blindée a été touchée par sept balles au moins", a dit M. Chowdhury.

"Elle est passée aussi près que possible de l'assassinat. Il s'agissait d'une tentative d'assassinat parce qu'on a tiré pendant qu'elle était emmenée vers la voiture. C'était une attaque très bien coordonnée et réfléchie", a-t-il dit. "Elle n'a été sauvée que par le fait que le véhicule était blindé", a ajouté le responsable qui a précisé qu'une des victimes était un garde du corps touché alors qu'il protégeait Sheikh Hasina. Il a déclaré qu'il y avait eu huit explosions et la police a dit avoir trouvé trois grenades non explosées.

Il a ajouté que le bilan des morts s'établissait dimanche à 18 et que de nombreux blessés étaient encore soignés. Aucun bilan officiel n'était encore disponible. Les explosions qui n'ont pas été revendiquées se sont produites après que Sheikh Hasina eut fini de parler lors du meeting. "C'était un carnage total, pire qu'une scène de film de guerre, avec des corps, des membres et du sang partout", a dit M. Chowdhury.

Des médecins du Dhaka Medical College Hospital, où de nombreux blessés ont été conduits, ont dit dimanche qu'ils soignaient encore 19 personnes, dont treize grièvement blessés. Mais d'autres blessés en nombre inconnu ont été hospitalisés ailleurs, ont ajouté les médecins. Parmi eux figure une dirigeante du parti qui a été amputée des deux jambes.

L'attaque a provoqué la colère de militants qui ont mis samedi le feu à des véhicules tandis que les bâtiments voisins du rassemblement étaient incendiés. La nouvelle de l'attentat a provoqué d'autres manifestations de colère en province. Dans le port de Chittagong, à 200 Km de Dacca, des centaines de partisans de la Ligue ont renversé et mis le feu à des voitures. Quelque 230 personnes ont été arrêtées, a dit dimanche un porte-parole de la police. Un appel à la grève a été lancé par l'opposition pour dimanche dans la ville.

La Ligue a également appelé à deux jours de grève nationale mardi et mercredi. Des manifestations spontanées ont eu lieu dans d'autres villes dimanche, mais aucun incident grave n'a été signalé. La Ligue Awami a lancé une série de grèves générales depuis le début de l'année, dans le cadre d'une campagne destinée à chasser du pouvoir le gouvernement, une coalition de quatre partis dont les islamistes, menée par le Parti nationaliste du Bangladesh du Premier ministre Khaleda Zia.

Dans un communiqué, le BNP a qualifié l'attentat de "barbare et regrettable". Les attentats de samedi font suite à deux autres ce mois-ci à Sylhet, dans le nord-est du pays, qui ont fait un mort chacun, et à l'explosion d'une bombe en mai dans une mosquée de la même ville, qui avait fait trois morts et des dizaines de blessés, dont l'ambassadeur britannique.

Sun 22 Aug 2004

9:21am (UK)
Mob Sets Fire to Train
"PA"

An angry mob set fire to a passenger train in central Bangladesh today, injuring at least 20 people.
It was in retaliation for a grenade attack on an opposition rally that killed 18 people and wounded hundreds, police said.
The train was travelling to the capital, Dhaka, from Chittagong city.
Riot police fired tear gas shells to disperse the protesters near Bhairab town, 50 miles east of Dhaka, said Fazlul Huq, chief traffic controller of state-run Bangladesh Railways.
Yesterday, the country’s main opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina, escaped injury when 13 bombs exploded as she addressed supporters outside her Awami League party’s headquarters in Dhaka. Police also recovered two unexploded devices at Dhaka Central Jail and at a market.
In the attack, at least 18 people were killed and more than 300 injured, including senior opposition members, ATN Bangla TV station reported today. The toll increased after four more deaths were reported in area hospitals, it said.
Traffic was light on the city’s streets as many schools and shops were closed for fear of more violence.
Doctors were overwhelmed and appealed for blood. Many people were critically wounded in the blasts and the number of dead could rise, they said.
No-one claimed responsibility, but Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil said Hasina was the target.
The rally was called to protest at a series of explosions early this month that killed two people, including an opposition supporter, in the north eastern city of Sylhet.
“We demand the immediate arrest of those responsible,” said student group leader Liakat Shikder.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia condemned the “dastardly attack” and vowed that her government would try to find those responsible.
“Let us all work together to prevent repeat of such cowardly attacks,” she said in a statement.
The Awami League has called for nationwide general strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest against the bombings.
It has accused Zia’s government of corruption, incompetence and harassment of political opponents and urged Zia to step down and call early polls.
The government rejects the allegations and has vowed to remain in power until its five-year term ends in 2006.

Breaking News
Train at Bhairab set ablaze: Rail link with Ctg, Sylhet suspended
By Staff Reporter
Aug 22, 2004, 14:43

Sporadic violence marked yesterday's localised hartals called by local units of Awami League at different parts of the country to protest grenade attack on an AL rally in the capital on Saturday that left at least 19 killed and over 200 injured.
During the yesterday's dawn-to-dusk hartals at several districts and towns, scores of incidents of violence, arson and arrest were reported by our correspondents last night.
A Dhaka-bound inter-city Subarna Express train from Chittagong was set ablaze by angry mob at Bhairab, forcing suspension of railway services on the main Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet routes. Many trains on the line remained stranded at different stations.
Bangladesh Railway sources told The New Nation that the Subarna Express was attacked and set ablaze by angry mob near Bhairab Bazar Station yesterday morning.
Mohila Awami League leader Ivy Rahman, who was among the seriously wounded party leaders under treatment, hails from Bhairab. She is now in critical condition at the CMH in Dhaka.
The protesters in Bhairab intercepted the train and compelled the passengers to vacate before setting fire on the power car and 15 compartments. The mob also removed parts of the railway tracks. Ten of the compartments were gutted by fire, while two were partially damaged.
The mob also attacked the fire fighters, called to extinguish the train fire.
Police fired some 20 rounds of blank shots to disperse the mob and bring the situation under control. One person was injured during the incident.
The authorities later deployed para-military Bangladesh Rifles in and around Bhairab Railway Station to restore order.
According to our Chittagong correspondent, at least five motor vehicles were damaged and set on fire on the first day of a 48-hour hartal enforced in Chittagong city. Police arrested 36 persons, including an AL backed ward commissioner during hartal related violence.
All kinds of motor vehicles stayed off the road. Loading and unloading of consignments at Chittagong Port were carried out, but no delivery had happened due to lack of vehicles.
Flying of Biman flights to and from Chittagong International Airport was normal.
A rally, organised by Chittagong City Awami League at Jubilee Road, was addressed by Chittagong City Corporation Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Advocate Ibrahim Chowdhury, Giasuddin, among others.
In Rangamati, hartal was called by local Awami League for an indefinite period. No major violence was reported.
In Khulna, Juba League and Chhatra League brought out processions yesterday during the hartal in protest of the attempt on life of Sheikh Hasina and demanding arrest of the culprits.
The leaders of Khulna city unit of Juba League also observed an eight-hour hunger strike at the city's Picture Palace crossing.
In Sylhet, a tense situation is now prevailing all-over following the bomb blast on a protest rally of Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on Saturday. A dawn-to-dusk hartal called by local AL and its front organisations passed away.
Our Sylhet correspondent reported that large contingents of police, BDR and RAB were deployed in the city to avert any untoward incident. During the hartal hours, the angry Awami League leaders and activists brought out processions that paraded different roads. Shops, schools, colleges, banks, business establishments, government and private offices remained closed.
After the Asr prayers, a 'Gayebana Janaza" was held at Court Point seeking the blessings of the Almighty Allah for the departed souls of the people who died of the Saturday's blasts in Dhaka. A condolence meeting was also held with Sylhet District AL President ANM Shafiqul Huq in the chair.
Former president of the Sylhet District Awami League Syed Abu Nasar Advocate, City Mayor Badaruddin Ahmed Kamran, among others, spoke on the occasion.
In Gopalganj, all educational institutions, shops, mills and factories remain closed. No vehicle plied on the roads.
A large number of small and big processions were brought out in the streets of Gopalganj town during the hartal hours.
An unruly mob ransacked a bus counter, named "Comfort Line" and assaulted its owner MH Khan Manju, President of the Gopalganj District BNP. They also attacked the Tungipara branch of Janata Bank in the morning.
In Haimchar upazila of Chandpur district, a dawn-to-dusk hartal was observed in protest of the attack on AL President and killing of Quddus, an AL activists, who succumbed to injuries in the Saturday's blast at Bangabandhu Avenue in the Dhaka city. Quddus hailed from Haimpur upazila.
Besides, hartal was observed peacefully in Bhola, Cox's Bazar and Gazipur districts.

© Copyright 2003 by ittefaq.com

Unrest hits Bangladesh
by
Sunday 22 August 2004 1:49 PM GMT

A series of grenade blasts at a rally on Saturday killed 18 people

Angry protests and strikes have broken out after a grenade attack on an opposition rally in Dhaka killed at least 18 people and narrowly missed killing an opposition leader.

Passengers fled an inter-city train on Sunday after an angry mob set fire to it at a central Bangladesh station about 80km east of Dhaka, a railway official said.
None of the passengers were injured in the fire, Bangladesh Railways' director of public relations Mustafa al-Zamil added.
Officials said supporters of the opposition Awami League, which is led by former prime minister Shaikha Hasina Wajid, had attacked the train and railway station and also damaged cars and shops.

They said opposition supporters forced about 600 passengers to alight from the train before setting two empty coaches on fire.
The train attack followed a series of grenade blasts at a rally held by the Awami League on Saturday which killed 18 people and left more than 150 others injured, at least a dozen seriously.

Leader escapes

Police patrolled the streets of Dhaka after Saturday's violence in which Shaikha Hasina escaped with minor leg injuries.

Officers in riot gear blocked off the area around her party's headquarters, where her car had been raked with gunfire after grenades were lobbed into a crowd listening to her give a speech, witnesses added.

"It was total carnage, worse than a scene from a war film, with bodies, limbs and blood everywhere"
Sabir Husayn Chowdhury,
Shaikha Hasina aide

"A series of grenades went off at five- to seven-second intervals giving the attackers smoke cover; as she was rushed away by bodyguards, her bullet-proof car was hit by at least seven bullets," Shaikha Hasina's political secretary Sabir Husayn Chowdhury said.

"Only the fact the vehicle was bullet-proof saved her," he said, adding that one of those killed was a bodyguard, hit as he shielded Shaikha Hasina.

"It was total carnage, worse than a scene from a war film, with bodies, limbs and blood everywhere," he said, adding that 18 were now confirmed dead.

Chowdhury said there were eight explosions and police later found three more unexploded grenades.

Strike call

The Awami League called for a one-day dawn to dusk strike in Dhaka on Sunday and a two-day countrywide strike on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest against the attacks, keeping cars off the roads and closing down shops and ports. 

Angry crowds torched vehicles in
the capital Dhaka and Chittagong

Opposition activists staged spontaneous demonstrations in other cities and towns on Sunday, shouting anti-government slogans, media reports said.

The capital Dhaka was tense after overnight rioting in which vehicles were torched.

In the south-eastern port city of Chittagong, 208km from Dhaka, hundreds of Awami League activists went on a rampage, overturning and setting fire to cars.

Police said 230 people had been arrested after the disturbances.

The government, a four-party coalition led by Prime Minister Khalida Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has strongly condemned the bombing.

Mon Aug 23,12:29 PM ET

Riot police with baton charge activists of Bangladesh main opposition Awami League during a demonstration to protest a weekend grenade attack on a political rally that killed 19 people and wounded hundreds, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 23, 2004. (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman)

Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW

Vol. 5 Num 89

Mon. August 23, 2004  

The Daily Star

Violence swells in city streets
BNP office torched; BSS office attacked; shops, vehicles vandalised
Staff Correspondent

Streets in a tense Dhaka filled with fury last night, as angry Awami League (AL) activists went on the rampage torching a BNP office, damaging the office of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and vandalising over 100 shops and 90 vehicles.

Arsonists bursting from a procession of 10,000 people torched the BNP office next to Golapshah Mazaar in Gulistan minutes after they smashed two police barricades at Zero Point in protest at Saturday's grenade attacks on an AL rally that killed at least 18 people.

The same group attacked the office of the state-run news agency and looted and damaged over 100 shops along Topkhana Road yesterday evening. Some shop owners alleged the demonstrators looted Tk 7,000 from them and damaged outdoor billboards.

Policemen at Paltan Crossing fired two to three gunshots and rubber bullets in a knee-jerk reaction to disperse the unruly activists as they went damaging vehicles in front of the National Press Club.

The same group sent a swell of panic earlier, breaking pottery on display in front of Curzon Hall and picking up brickbats to hurl at paramilitary and police forces lining the streets.

Mid-level leaders of the AL and its front organisations calmed them down to keep it a peaceful procession to mourn the dead, while some others took it as an opportunity to avenge the grenade attack victims.

With the procession reaching the Central Shaheed Minar, senior AL leaders such as Abdul Jalil and Motia Chowdhury made brief speeches at a short-lived rally and the same unruly activists threw brickbats at Bangladesh Rifles men watching the gathering.

Provoked by taunts and brickbats, Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel threw the brickbats back and pointed their guns at the mob prompting a brief stand-off.

Both BDR men and angry AL activists were then pulled back by on-duty Assistant Commissioner (Patrol South) AKM Ehsan Ullah and mid-level AL leaders.

The rally over, leaders and most activists left and the unruly group marched towards Paltan Crossing through Topkhana Road where they unleashed the rampage.

The police swooped on the group and dispersed them with batons into small alleys of Shegunbagicha and Naya Paltan. The police patrolled the area until 8:00pm.

From afternoon onwards, traffic was thin as buses and private cars kept off the roads fearing violent aftershocks from Saturday's grenade attacks.

Rumours of curfews and heavy riot police presence restricting entry to Motijheel and Gulistan bent office timetables.

OTHER FLASHPOINTS
The violent incidents were reported in parts of Dhaka: seven to eight buses were damaged in Mouchak and Maghbazar areas.

Shops were damaged in Mohammadpur, while two vehicles damaged on North-South Road . Violence swept through Motijheel, Jatrabari and Palashi.

At least 10 people were picked up from the flash points in Dhaka . Violent AL activists damaged at least 80 vehicles in Malibagh, Kakrail, Rampura and Badda.

The Daily Star

Protests, shock rage
Passenger train torched at Bhairab; AL workers fight with cops
Star Report

Shock and awe, angst and protest, disbelief and tension swept through the country yesterday as the death toll from Saturday's grenade attack on Sheikh Hasina's rally rose to 18, with the deaths of three more victims at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Angry Awami League (AL) activists fought pitched battles with police across the country and an inter-city train was set ablaze by a mob at Bhairab. At least 300 were arrested during hartals enforced in different districts.

The government formed a one-member judicial inquiry commission to probe the grenade attack that Hasina narrowly survived. She is now in bed rest with grievous inner ear injury. No other security measures were taken to protect the AL leaders who were also the targets of the grenade attacks.

At the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka, the condition of AL leader Ivy Rahman remains critical. There was no official word on her health and rumours ran rife that she had died.

Other top AL leaders including Amir Hossain Amu, Suranjit Sengupta, Abdur Razzak and Kazi Zafarullah, who survived Saturday's attack, were improving in different city hospitals.

Police refused to register any case from the AL and only accepted a general diary. They arrested eight people in a separate case for vandalising vehicles after Saturday's blasts. There has been no headway either in the case that the cops filed about the bomb blasts.

In Bhairab, a mob stopped inter-city passenger train Subarna Express at the outer signal of the station, forced some 600 passengers to alight before setting it on fire at around 11:00am, snapping the capital's rail communications with Chittagong and Sylhet.

Ten of 15 compartments of the Dhaka-bound passenger train from Chittagong were gutted and two burnt partially. Passengers and railway staffers escaped unhurt, Bangladesh Railway Public Relations Director Mostafa-e-Jamil told The Daily Star.

As firefighters reached the scene to douse the flames, the mob attacked the fire brigade vehicles, injuring four firemen.

The mob of around 250 also clashed with police and one person was bullet-hit in police firing while 19 others were hurt in the clash. The railway authorities were forced to suspend all trains scheduled to depart from Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong stations and kept other trains on wait at different stations. The mob also attacked the local post office and several banks.

The government yesterday did not let the AL leaders take out the bodies from the DMCH morgue in fear of violent backlash. Paramilitary BDR personnel and police have been deployed there to tighten security. Anxious relatives of the wounded are still crowding outside the main entrance to the hospital.

"There is no instance anywhere in the world that the government does not hand over bodies," said Abdul Matin Khosru, former law minister, leading a procession in Baitul Mokarram National Mosque area after the AL held funeral prayers (namaj-e-janaza).

Some 20,000 people attended the funeral prayers at the mosque as tension ran high. Later, a procession broke the security cordon on the Bangabandhu Avenue and marched through the city streets. The processionists torched a BNP office at Bangabazar, pelted the office of the state news agency BSS and smashed about 100 vehicles.

The capital balked down in apprehension as two more grenades were retrieved, one from Dhaka Central Jail and the other from the toilet of Hawkers' Market close to the AL headquarters where Saturday's mayhem occurred. City roads were mostly deserted. Twenty platoons of BDR personnel and riot police dotted the main streets.

The city was in a sombre mood.

The police and BDR also sealed off the Bangabandhu Avenue from all sides. The truck on which Hasina was standing during the grenade attacks still lies there. Party workers have frilled the mayhem spot with black and red flags.

Most schools shuttered up and attendance in offices was thin. Many foreign organisations started office at noon. Dhaka 's city heart was deserted by lunchtime as staffers hurried home before the funeral prayers.

In Chittagong , police arrested 225 AL activists during pre-hartal raids.

Countrywide clashes during hartal in districts over attack on AL rally

BNP-AL clash in Sirajganj: 13 injured
Police AL leaders clash in Rangpur: 40 injured
Countrywide protest against attack on AL rally: Hartal on Aug 24, 25
3 BCL activists wounded in BNP attacks in Jamalpur
PM’s portrait burned during hartal in Gopalganj

Hartals were observed with stray incidents in different parts of the country Sunday protesting the Saturday’s grenade attack on opposition leader Sheikh Hasina’s public rally in the capital.
According to UNB district correspondents, Awami League, its front organisations and different left-wing parties brought out protest processions and held rallies in Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Cox’s Bazar, Manikganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Rajbari, Bhola, Brahmanbaria and Pirojpur districts while enforcing the hartal.
Awami League district units called for the dawn-to-dusk shutdown today instantly reacting to the grenade attack on Saturday.
In Sylhet, 10-12 shops and 50 vehicles were damaged in the city’s Tilagarh, Taltala, Subidbazar, Zindabazar, Bandarbazar and Kalighat areas. Two baby taxis were set on fire and five people injured in the city during the hartal hours.
Police and BDR personnel patrolled the metropolitan city as tension remained high. Fifteen people were arrested till noon, according to Sylhet police.
UNB Chittagong correspondent reports: A dawn-to-dusk hartal, called by the city Awami League, passed off peacefully without any major incident.
Earlier, on Saturday night, police arrested 210 people in raids at the houses of Awami League leaders and workers. Twenty-one others were arrested during the hartal hours today.
Police also filed cases against 106 people, including Ward Commissioner Tareque Solaiman, allegedly for damaging vehicles and subversive acts.
In Bhola, a chase and counter chase took place between Chhatra Dal and Chhatra League activists at Bangla School crossing in the district town at noon during the half-day hartal. Panic gripped the town as the two rival groups took to the streets after a long time.
According to UNB Khulna correspondent, dawn-to-dusk hartal was observed in the city without any major incident. AL and its front organisations brought out protest rallies in different parts of the city during the hartal hours.
In Pirojpur, a half-day hartal was observed in the district amid a sporadic incident of chase and counter-chase between the Awami League and BNP activists in the district town. Both the groups hurled brickbats at each other’s office during the hartal hours.
Members of Pirojpur Press Club demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment to the culprits involved in the attack on journalists in the capital during a programme of Awami League.
In Feni, panic gripped the municipal area after few hand-made bombs exploded in the town this (Sunday) afternoon. Chhatra League and Chhatra Dal blamed each other for the bomb blasts.
According to Gazipur correspondent, a half-day hartal was observed in the district today more or less peacefully.
Separate `gayebana janaza’ were held at Gazipur sadar upazila, Tongi, Kaliakair and Chandana Chourasta for those killed in the Saturday’s grenade attack in the capital.
Such `gayebana janaza” were also held in Bogra, Barguna, Gaibandha, Chapainawabganj, Jhalakati, Sherpur, Sirajganj, Feni, Rajbari, Bandarban and Patuakhali districts today.

Chittagong tense as AL called hartal passes
The first six hours of the dawn-to-dusk hartal in the Chittagong district called by city Awami League passed off peacefully till noon Sunday in Chittagong .
City Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury had earlier declared a 24-hour hartal in Chittagong from 6am today (Sunday) as reports of explosions in Dhaka city reached an Awami League rally in front of Shaheed Minar here.
But later the city AL announced a 12-hour shutdown in consistence with the central programmes of the party.
Pickets damaged a number of rickshaws at the Station Road , Rifle Club area and Sholashahar Mayor Goli in the morning.
Two flights, one of Biman and the other GMG, on Dhaka-Chittagong route were suspended till noon.
ADC of Chittagong Metropolitan Police Helalur Rahman said they arrested 210 people, including a number of AL leaders, on Saturday night and 15 Sunday morning.
The leaders who were arrested on Saturday night include ward commission Tareq Solaiman Selim, ex-commissioner of Sholokbahar ward Ahmedur Rahman Siddiqi, joint convenor of 41 ward Sechchhasebak League Sekandar Azim and joint convenor of city unit Sechchhasebak League KBM Shahjahan.
CCC Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury alleged that police arrested the leaders, accusing them of terrorism and destructive activities.
Meanwhile, lawyers in the port city brought out a procession in the court premises in the morning and demanded judicial inquiry of Saturday’s bomb blast at AL rally in Dhaka .
PM’s portrait burned during hartal in Gopalganj
Hartal supporters pulled down portrays of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia from government offices at Tungipara upazila in Gopalganj and set those on fire during the hartal hours Sunday.
Officials said AL activists took away 7 or 8 portray and burnt those on the road at about 11am.
Police AL leaders clash in Rangpur: 40 injured
Forty leaders and workers of local Awami League were injured, 10 seriously, in a clash with police at Pirganj upazila headquarters during hartal hours Sunday.
Witnesses said the clash ensued in the morning when police resisted the leaders and activists of pro-AL Chhatra League, Jubo League and Sramik League from putting barricades on the Rangpur-Dhaka highway.
Police charged batons on the leaders and workers of of the AL front organizations, leaving 40 people injured.
Ten of the injured were admitted to Pirganj upazila health complex.
Pirganj Awami League enforced the half-day hartal from 6 am in the upazila protesting the Saturday’s grenade attack on opposition leader Sheikh Hasina.
A huge rally was brought out by the front organizations of Awami League in the upazila headquarters in the afternoon.
BNP-AL clash in Sirajganj: 13 injured
A clash between BNP and Awami League activists in the Sirajganj town Sunday left at least 13 people injured.
Police said the clash took place near Elliot Bridge at about 7:30pm when a group of ruling party activists allegedly attacked AL procession. AL office also came under attack.
The procession was brought out to protest Saturday’s explosions at AL rally in Dhaka city that left 19 dead and more than 200 injured.
Heavy contingents of riot gear police have been deployed in different parts of the town to ward off violence.
3 BCL activists wounded in BNP attacks in Jamalpur
Three BCL activists were wounded by bullets in an attack allegedly by rivals of BNP at Shaheed Minar of Melandaha in Jamalpur Sunday evening.
Locals said AL and its front organizations were preparing for holding gayebana janaza for those killed in Saturday’s explosions in Dhaka at 6pm when they came under the attack.
Shafiqul Islam, Shakhawat Hossain and Suzan were rushed to Jamalpur general hoapital with bullet wounds and later shifted to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital as their condition deteriorated.

Bangladesch - 100 Verletzte bei Strassenkämpfen

Dhaka. SDA/BaZ. Nach den Anschlägen auf eine Kundgebung der Opposition ist Bangladesch von einer Welle der Gewalt erfasst worden. Bei Ausschreitungen in der Hauptstadt Dhaka wurden am Dienstag mindestens 100 Menschen verletzt.

Augenzeugen berichteten von Strassenkämpfen zwischen Oppositionsanhängern und der Polizei. Die Ordnungskräfte setzten demnach Tränengas und Gummigeschosse gegen gewalttätige Demonstranten ein.

Die Zahl der Opfer des Anschlags auf eine Veranstaltung der oppositionellen Awami-Liga am Samstag in Dhaka stieg unterdessen auf 20. Ein weiterer Parteifunktionär sei an Verletzungen erlegen, teilten die behandelnden Ärzte mit.

Das öffentliche Leben kam wegen eines von der Awami-Liga landesweit ausgerufenen Generalstreiks weitgehend zum Erliegen. Aufgebrachte Oppositionsanhänger brachten den Zugverkehr zwischen Dhaka und der südlichen Hafenstadt Chittagong erneut vorübergehend zum Stillstand, indem sie Gleise zerstörten.

Bahnvertreter sagten, auch im Nordosten Bangladeschs sei der Bahnverkehr unterbrochen worden, nachdem Signalsysteme von Protestierern zerstört worden seien. Am Sonntag hatte ein Mob zwischen Dhaka und Chittagong einen Personenzug angezündet; mindestens 17 Menschen waren verletzt worden.

Grève générale au Bangladesh après l'attentat meurtrier contre l'opposition
[24 Aug 2004]

DACCA (AFP)

Des milliers de manifestants ont protesté mardi au Bangladesh paralysé par une grève générale pour protester contre un attentat qui a fait 20 morts lors d'un meeting de l'opposition le week-end dernier.

D'importantes forces de police ont été déployées pour éviter des émeutes alors que des incidents sporadiques étaient signalés par endroits au premier jour d'un mouvement décrété pour mardi et mercredi.

La grève générale, une forme de protestation fréquente au Bangladesh, a été organisée pour protester contre l'attaque à la grenade samedi d'un meeting anti-gouvernemental du principal parti d'opposition, la Ligue Awami.

Les rues des principales villes étaient vides de voitures et les boutiques et établissements scolaires avaient fermé. La police et des unités paramilitaires patrouillaient la capitale Dacca.

Un ancien député de l'opposition et un dirigeant communiste ont été légèrement blessés dans des bousculades avec la police dans le centre de la capitale. Selon des témoins, une quinzaine de militants ont été arrêtés lors d'une intervention de la police contre une manifestation.

"Des renforts ont été appelés d'autres départements pour prévenir des violences et nous avons déployé des unités à tous les points clé de la ville", a dit le chef de la police, Bakhtiar Alam.

Le grand port de Chittagong dans le sud-est était totalement paralysé, la route reliant la ville à la capitale était coupée par des manifestants et des véhicules et des pousse-pousse ont été attaqués, selon la police et des témoins.

Les raffineries et autres installations importantes étaient gardées par la forces de l'ordre.

Des milliers de personnes ont défilé à Rajshahi, dans le nord-ouest, mais aucune violence n'a été signalée.

Sylhet, dans le nord-est, et Khulna, dans le sud-ouest, étaient paralysées et des manifestations se sont déroulées sans violence, selon les premières informations de la police.

Un porte-parole de l'armée a déclaré mardi qu'une dirigeante du parti grièvement blessée dans l'attaque de samedi avait succombé à ses blessures, portant à 20 le nombre des morts.

Des dirigeants de la Ligue ont déclaré que l'attentat, qui n'a pas été revendiqué, était une tentative d'assassinat de son chef, l'ex Premier ministre Sheikh Hasina Wajed, légèrement blessée aux jambes.

La grève est la 15ème organisée par la Ligue depuis le début de l'année dans le cadre d'une campagne contre le gouvernement de Mme Khaleda Zia.

Les Etats-Unis avaient appelé lundi au calme au Bangladesh et le secrétaire général de l'Onu, Kofi Annan, avait également condamné l'attentat.

Hasina refuses to meet Khaleda, Dhaka edgy

Awami League activists protest in Dhaka . (AFP)

Dhaka , Aug. 23 (Agencies): Awami League president Sheikh Hasina Wajed, whose rally was attacked on Saturday killing 19 of her supporters, today refused to meet Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and instead called for the resignation of the four-party alliance.

Khaleda’s office had contacted Hasina’s aides to convey the Prime Minister’s intention to meet the Awami chief.

However, Hasina’s political adviser Saber Hossain Chowdhury criticised the Khaleda government’s stand after the attack and said there was “no reason” for the Prime Minister to meet their leader.

“We don’t see any reason for the Prime Minister to come and see the leader (Sheikh Hasina) at a time when we are being blamed for Saturday’s grenade attacks as well as the government’s refusal to give the bodies of our leaders and workers for mass prayers yesterday,” Chowdhury said.

“The government should resign immediately as it has failed to provide security to the people,” Hasina said and blamed the ruling party for Saturday’s attack.

Thousands of Bangladesh Opposition activists holding banners reading: “Why the bombings, why the bloodshed?” protested today against the grenade attack as extra armed police stood by to quell violence.

In Dhaka , more than 3,000 supporters of the main Opposition Awami League staged a peaceful but noisy protest over the attack.

We want answers” and “Down with (Prime Minister) Khaleda Zia’s government, long live Bangladesh ,” shouted the protesters, some holding black flags. Police armed with tear gas, riot shields and automatic rifles looked on.

Mostly peaceful protests also took place in the northeastern town of Sylhet , the port city of Chittangong and other towns. But in Sherpur, a town 250 km northwest of Dhaka , a crude bomb was thrown at an Awami League protest, injuring one.

Yesterday, Awami supporters ransacked a railway station and set fire to a train in protest. At least 50 people were injured in clashes across the country as Awami members accused the government of inaction after the attack.

A two-day national strike to protest over the grenade attacks starts tomorrow. The capital was edgy today, with many schools and colleges closed and offices reporting low attendance because of the fear of violence. The normally jammed streets were easy to negotiate. International concern at the situation in Bangladesh was rising. US secretary of state Colin Powell said in a statement issued in Washington : “The perpetrators of this heinous act clearly intend to undermine democracy in Bangladesh .”

The Daily Star, 04-08-24

Twin hartals begin today amid tension
Staff Correspondent
Tension prevailed in the capital and elsewhere ahead of today's countrywide hartal jointly called by the main opposition Awami League (AL), left-leaning 11-party alliance and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu) protesting Saturday's grenade attacks on AL rally in the capital and demanding immediate resignation of the ruling coalition.

Attacks on opposition activists, firing of tear gas shells by police and arrests preceded the back-to-back 12-hour hartals today and tomorrow that the mainstream opposition parties enforce from six this morning.

Reports received from our correspondents in Sylhet, Satkhira and Mymensingh said over 50 people were injured when police and ruling BNP men attacked pre-hartal processions yesterday.

At least 20 people were injured as police resorted to lathi charge and fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse agitating AL activists at Tajpur Bazar under Osmani Nagar Thana in Sylhet yesterday afternoon, reports our staff correspondent in the district.

At 6:00pm, about 200 activists of AL and its front organisations brought out a procession at the bazar and police swung into action soon after.

Later, the activists held a protest rally at the bazaar with thana AL President Kabir Uddin Ahmed in the chair. General Secretary of thana AL Abdal Miah and other leaders addressed the rally, alleging police swooped on the peaceful procession.

A police however said police had to take action to bring the situation under control. Additional police force was sent to the bazar.

In Satkhira, at least 12 AL activists were injured as BNP workers attacked a pre-hartal procession in front of Kolaroa thana . They also ransacked thana AL office.

In Gouripur thana headquarters in Mymensingh, at least 10 people were injured as police and ruling party men swooped on a procession denouncing the grenade attacks in Dhaka and for drumming up support for the hartals.

Our Bogra correspondent reports, a police sub-inspector and eight others were injured when a cocktail was hurled on a procession of the AL and its front organisations at Sherpur.

Amidst an uneasy calm prevailing across the country since Saturday's incident, the government has beefed up security ahead of today's shutdown.

In the capital, 6,500 law enforcers will be deployed today instead of 5, 500 on other days.

In Chittagong, over 2,000 police men along with paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles and Armed Police Battalion personnel will be deployed in the port city today to maintain law and order, police officials said.

Special police teams have been posted and surveillance stepped up in and around all key point installations (KPIs) in the port city to avert violence.

"We have kept our men on high alert in this port city and we briefed our officials to be more vigilant," acting Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police Amjad Hossain told The Daily Star.

During an overnight special drive on Sunday, police arrested more than 140 people under Section 54 from different places of the port city.

Our staff correspondent in Khulna reports security measures have been further geared up in the city as panic gripped it ahead of the hartals. Ten platoons of police in riot gear have been deployed at the vulnerable points.

Local AL leaders held a rally yesterday, blaming anti-liberation forces for the grenade attack in Dhaka .

Khulna district and city units of the BNP in a joint statement yesterday condemned Saturday's incident.

Meanwhile, shop owners at a meeting with Sheikh Hasina yesterday extended their support to the hartal.

Shop Owners Association leaders including Amir Hossain and SA Kader met the opposition leader at her residence Sudha Sadan.

Usually, shop owners are opposed to hartals.

Other organisations which extended support to the hartal include Bangladesh Sarak Pari-bahan Sramik Union , Bangladesh Jubo Union, Chhatra Union , Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Mukti Andolon and Samajtantrik Sramik Jote.

Sammilito Sangskritik Jote will organise cultural functions today and tomorrow at 5:00pm at the Central Shaheed Minar, protesting the grenade attacks.

Anti-Government Strike Cripples Bangladesh

FARID HOSSAIN
Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh - Baton-wielding Bangladesh riot police fired tear gas and rounded up dozens of protesters Tuesday during a general strike called to protest a weekend grenade attack that killed 20 people and wounded hundreds at an opposition political rally.

The violence broke out after police tried to block hundreds of protesters from taking to the streets, witnesses said. Demonstrators waved clenched fists and shouted "Down with the government!"

At least 25 people were injured in the clashes in the capital, Dhaka , and police picked up about 50 protesters, the witnesses said.

Similar clashes - injuring about 100 people - erupted on the eve of the dawn-to-dusk strike, called by the main opposition Awami League party and backed by several leftist parties, the United News of Bangladesh news agency reported.

The protest shut down shops and schools and disrupted traffic across Bangladesh .

Opposition activists threw stones and bricks at public buses in downtown Dhaka , injuring at least three passengers, the news agency said. Train services on several routes - particularly between Dhaka and the southeastern port city of Chittagong - were halted as strike supporters barricaded tracks or attacked station staff.

"We have stopped trains on the Dhaka-Chittagong route at various stations due to security reasons," Mostafa Zamil, director of state-run Bangladesh Railway told the United News of Bangladesh.

Police, meanwhile, were yet to identify a charred body found inside the burnt-out carriage of a train torched by a mob Sunday near a station at Bhairab, 50 miles east of Dhaka . About 20 people were injured in the arson attack.

At least 20 people were killed and more than 300 injured when more than a dozen grenades were lobbed into the crowd while opposition leader Sheikh Hasina was speaking outside her Awami League headquarters on Saturday.

The Awami League, meanwhile, has shortened to half a day another strike called for Wednesday to allow people to attend the funeral of a senior opposition leader, spokesman Abdul Jalil said.

Ivy Rahman, who lost her legs in the grenade attack, died in Dhaka's Combined Military Hospital early Tuesday, doctors and her family said, raising the death toll to 20.

Mass protests and violence have spread across Bangladesh to protest the attack, putting security forces on high alert.

No one has claimed responsibility, but Hasina, who was unharmed, has blamed Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's administration for the attack. The government has denied involvement.

Fearing renewed violence during the two-day strike that started Tuesday, officials deployed more than 5,000 police and paramilitary troops deployed in the capital on Tuesday.

In Dhaka , a city of 10 million people, the streets were empty of most vehicles except rickshaws. Government offices were open, but few employees showed up for work, witnesses said.

"We don't want to see any more death. This repressive government must step down right now," Hasina told reporters late Monday.

The Awami League has accused Zia's government of corruption, incompetence and harassing political opponents, and has demanded that Zia step down and call early elections. The government rejects the allegations and has vowed to remain in power until its five-year term ends in 2006.

Country crippled in hartal
Rail links collapse; cops club CPB leader Selim; today's hartal curtailed to 1pm
Staff Correspondent

At least 100 people were injured in sporadic clashes on the first day of the opposition general strike yesterday that crippled life and disrupted train travels between Dhaka and other districts amid scenes of protest against Saturday's grenade attacks.

Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) General Secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim was among the injured who battled the police and anti-hartal activists of the ruling BNP-led alliance.

The strike was called by the main opposition Awami League (AL) after deadly grenade attacks on a political rally on Bangabandhu Avenue killed at least 19 people and wounded about 200 others.

The left 11-Party and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal threw their weight behind the AL in the general strike called also to protest an assassination attempt on AL President Sheikh Hasina, who was addressing Saturday's rally.

In the wake of frequent attacks on railway establishments in parts of the country, Bangladesh Railway suspended rail services between Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet until 1:00pm today.

Incensed by the death of AL 's Women's Affairs Secretary Ivy Rahman, the opposition activists ransacked at least two rail stations such as Brahmanbaria and Akhaura, an important rail junction.

The activists forced rail officials in Khulna , Rajshahi and Lalmanirhat to leave control rooms, delaying train travels.

The second round of hartal was curtailed to 1:00pm for an easy funeral of Ivy, who died from fatal wounds at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka , intensifying the countrywide protest.

No long-haul buses left terminals in the capital, nor did any reach Dhaka from other districts. Launches and steamers were anchored at Sadarghat.

Shops, schools, businesses, private offices, stock exchanges and major seaports closed and traffic thinned out, as fears of a repeat of clashes stalked the country.

The 37th hartal was the most spontaneous since the AL was voted out of office in October 2001, as people representing a broad spectrum of society united in protest against the August 21 deadly attacks.

TENSE DHAKA

The police clubbed a CPB procession grievously injuring Mujahidul Islam Selim, who was admitted to a private clinic for treatment of her dislocated right shoulder joint.

Former home minister Mohammad Nasim also suffered injuries in a scuffle with the police when he and other leaders tried to snatch two party workers from the law-enforcers.

Scenes of hundreds of stone-throwing pickets chasing policemen in riot gear and the law-enforcers beating the opposition activists with batons dominated Dhaka at the height of the hartal.

The police picked up at least 98 people and about 7,000 police, Armed Police Battalion and paramilitary personnel were posted to important installations and strategic points to maintain law and order in the city reeling from violent protest for the last four days.

At least six leaders of Awami Olama League were picked up when they were reciting the Quran near the AL headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue in memory of the people who died in the grisly grenade blasts.

Shortly before 11:00 in the morning, law-enforcers dragged at least seven main opposition women leaders including former lawmaker Sagufta Yasmin Emily into a police van leaving some of them partially stripped.

Police scuffled with the leaders and activists of Jubo Mahila League at Russell Square and teargassed the demonstrators who threw stones at them after being obstructed to march on Mirpur Road in support of the hartal.

Opposition lawmakers under the Awami League Parliamentary Party brought out a procession from the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban area at about 11:00am and staged a sit-in near Russell Square for over two hours.

COUNTRYWIDE CLASHES

Bhairab, the birthplace of Ivy, was one of the flash points during the hartal as angry AL supporters tried to ransack the railway station there. Opposition activists on Sunday set ablaze two railway compartments in Bhairab after the weekend grenade attacks.

Authorities deployed eight magistrates and contingents of police and Paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) to disperse a mob at Akhaura station.

A group of activists broke windowpanes of the new railway station in Brahmanbaria and damaged the station guardroom, according to our Brahmanbaria correspondent.

Arsonists set fire to the district education office before the police with the help of education officials doused the flames, firemen said. Some angry workers attacked the local office of leading non-governmental organisation BRAC in Brahmanbaria.

Attacks on railway establishments were also reported in Rajshahi, Khulna and Iswardi, railway officials said.

Movement of trains was disrupted in Sylhet during the hartal, our staff correspondent from Sylhet reports. The inter-city Jayantika Express bound for Dhaka was stopped at Langla for about 15 minutes and again at Noapara for two hours.

Chittagong-bound Paharika express was kept waiting at Maijgaon for about 20 minutes. Pickets put barricades there at about 11:40am to stop the train from the northeastern district. The police reached the spot and clubbed the AL activists injuring five of them.

Pickets damaged some vehicles, including trucks on Chittagong-Dhaka Highway , our Staff Correspondent from Chittagong quoted the police and witnesses as saying.

Delivery of goods in and out of Chittagong Port was hampered during hartal, although cargo handling inside jetties was unstopped, officials said.

A group of pro-hartal lawyers attacked the Magistrate's Court in Bogra and damaged furniture forcing the court to shut, reports our correspondent from Bogra.

At least 10 pro-hartal activists and leaders, including AL district unit Vice-President Ching Keu Roaza, were injured when the army used batons to stop a procession at about 11:30am, our correspondent from Rangamati says.

Army officials picked up at least five pickets from a procession and freed them at the district's sadar hospital after torture, AL leader Kalpa Ranjan Chakma alleged.

The army made a furious chase when a group of AL leaders went to the office of Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) to request him to close his office, prompting UNO Mohammed Mohiuddin to ask the army to club the pro-hartal procession, AL leaders alleged.

Some unidentified youth spread panic in the southwestern city damaging furniture, doors and windowpanes of Khulna Zila Parishad, Rupali Bank, Rupali Insurance, City Post Office and the railway station master's office, according to our staff correspondent from Khulna.

They stormed the office of the Press Information Department and set important documents on fire. They also burnt the official jeep of the deputy postmaster general.

The angry activists with sticks and petrol cans in hand stormed the offices of district food controller at noon and burnt documents.

Chief Executive Officer of Khulna Zila Parishad Kumar Paul was injured in an attack when a group of demonstrators went on the rampage in his office on KD Ghose Road.

At least 15 people were injured in Patuakhali town and Dashmina upazila headquarters in clashes between pro- and anti-hartal activists. At least seven shops were vandalised there.

In Natore, at least 10 people, including four train passengers, were injured in a clash between pickets and law-enforcers at Abdulpur railway junction. Pickets blocked the way of at least 14 local mail and express trains at the station.

The hartal was observed in Rajshahi amid stray incidents, tight security and picketing, our correspondent from the northwestern district says.

At least four people were injured when BNP activists attacked an AL procession at Kawria Bandar in Hizla upazila in Barisal, says our Barisal correspondent.

2004-08-25,  Politics,  matamat

Violence, arson attack marked first day of hartal: 2nd-day hartal underway

2nd-day hartal underway without major incidents
7,000 security personnel deployed in city installations and strategic points
AL slaps 2-day nationwide hartal protesting attempt on Hasina
Opposition workers set UNO office on fire in Narsingdi
Shop owners extends support to AL called hartal

Bangladesh braces for more violence as protest strike begins
Attack on opposition pre-hartal procession in city: 25 injured

Arson, disruption in rail, road and air traffic and scattered violence across the country marked the first day of the two-day hartal called by opposition Awami League.
Left leaning 11-party alliance and JSD (Inu) also gave the call for identical dawn-to-dusk shutdown to protest Saturday’s bomb attack on Sheikh Hasina’s anti-terrorism rally that left 20 people killed and 300 others injured.
However, 24 hours of hartal spread over two days have been curtailed by five hours on the second day, Wednesday, to allow the public to attend the namaj-e-janaza and burial of AL leader Ivy Rahman, who died early Tuesday.
“We’ve discussed the matter among ourselves and taken the decision to shorten the hartal hours,” Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil told UNB.
He said the shutdown would end at 1 pm tomorrow (Wednesday) as namaj-e-janaza for Begum Ivy Rahman would be held after Asr prayer tomorrow at Baitul Mukarram national mosque.
Angry opposition workers attacked and set fire to the Sadar UNO office in Narsingdi district during early hours of hartal today. They also attacked and set ablaze the district Jubo Dal office in the town.
Normal life and businesses came almost to a standstill following hartal across the country.
In capital Dhaka, all modes of transport were off the road except few rickshaws, mini-buses and auto-rickshaws.
Witnesses said protestors fought with riot police at different points in the capital, leaving at least 20 people, including CPB general secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim and AL lawmaker Sohel Taj, injured. The law enforcers picked up over 50 people during the dawn-to-dusk shutdown.

Chase and counter chase took place between police and the pro-hartal pickets around Bangabandhu Bhaban at Dhanmondi Road-32. Some AL lawmakers were seen protecting their supporters from police action and forcibly brought back some of the workers arrested by police.
Around 7,000 police, armed battalion and paramilitary BDR were posted at important installations and strategic points to maintain law and order in the tense city witnessing violent protests for the last four days since the grenade attack seen as an attempt on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Shops, business houses and shopping malls kept their shutters down while schools, colleges, universities and most private offices were closed.
Witnesses said the CPB leaders and workers brought out a procession from the party office at Purana Paltan, but police foiled their procession by resorting to baton charge.
Police engaged in clashes with opposition activists twice at Mirpur-10 and fired two rounds of tear shell canisters as the angry workers threw brickbats and resorted to widespread damage to vehicles in Mirpur and Pallabi areas.
The law enforcers picked up seven opposition activists from Mirpur area.
In Malibagh crossing area, some pro-hartal activists threw brickbats towards a bus at about 10:30 am leaving at least one injured seriously. Injured Yunus, a tax office employee, was admitted to the DMCH.
Two young bus passengers -– Bellal in Fakirerpul area and Ripon in Sayedabad area -- were injured critically in the morning as pro-hartal activists threw brickbats targeting the buses.
Train service in the country’s western zone, including Dhaka-Chittagong route, came to a halt in the face of violent picketing by opposition activists during the hartal.
The authorities also stopped train services on different routes for security reasons.
“We stopped the trains on Dhaka-Chittagong route at various stations because of security reasons,” Mostafa-e-Zamil, Director (PR) of Bangladesh Railway, told UNB at 12:13 pm today.
Pickets dragged out staff from Rajshahi control room, Rajbari station and Abdulpur junction at Iswardi. They also damaged the Rajshahi control room.
Chittagong-bound Mahanagar Prabhati from Dhaka was halted at Brahmanbaria station at 10:15 am while Dhaka-bound Mahanagar Prabhati stopped at Comilla station at 10 am. Dhaka-bound Upakul Express from Noakhali also halted at Comilla station at 9:15 am.
Besides, two container trains bound for Chittagong were halted at Akhaura station from 9:50 am.
Pickets obstructed the movement of a number of inter-city and local trains in the railway’s western zone from Tuesday morning.
Inter-city Kanchan express faced obstruction at Parbatipur at 8 am. A local train that left Rangpur was stopped at Bonarpara in Gaibandha at 7 am while another at Bamundanga station at 8:45 am.
Barind Inter-city was halted by pickets at Parbatipur on Nilphamari-Rajshahi route at 8:25 am while Rupsha Inter-city obstructed at 8:15 am at Bilaichandi on Sayedpur-Khulna route.
Unruly people also stopped inter-city Titumir at Arani station on Rajshai-Chilahati route while Silk City Express at Nandangachhi on Rajshahi-Dhaka route at 7:30 am.
Some flights operated by the private GMG Airlines in the domestic routes were rescheduled.
Biman sources, however, said that all their international and domestic flights operated normally.
No inter-district bus left the terminals, nor reached Dhaka from outside. Launch and steamers were anchored at Sadarghat terminals.

Hasina aide buried, strike ends

Women at the funeral of Ivy Rahman in Dhaka. (Reuters)

Dhaka, Aug. 25 (Reuters): A two-day general strike called after the killing of a Bangladeshi woman Opposition politician in a grenade attack ended today without major violence as thousands of mourners attended her funeral.

Ivy Rahman, chief of the women’s wing of the main Opposition Awami League and a veteran grassroots leader, died yesterday, three days after she lost her legs in a grenade attack on a rally she was attending. Besides Rahman, at least 18 people were killed and more than 150 people wounded when grenades exploded as former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina finished addressing thousands of supporters of her Awami League party on Saturday.

Party leaders and media said the attack by unknown assailants that killed Rahman and others was aimed at Hasina. The party called the strike to protest against the attack.

The government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is under pressure to catch the attackers as well as those responsible for bombs that have killed more than 100 since 2000.

About 15,000 party supporters, reciting verses from the Quran, accompanied Rahman’s wooden, flower-strewn coffin to a cemetery after prayers at Dhaka’s Baitul Mokarram mosque.

Police in riot gear stood behind steel barricades as mourners poured out of the mosque but there was no violence. Earlier, police clashed with anti-government protesters near Hasina’s house in Dhaka and five activists were injured.

Protests were held in other parts of the volatile Muslim-majority democracy including the port city of Chittagong and Rajshahi in the northwest but there were no reports of serious violence with only a few minor clashes reported.

Protesters, some carrying black flags, chanted, “Khaleda, we want to know why Ivy is dead?” and “Revenge, Revenge!” Four days of violence following the attack killed one person and injured more than 220 people as Awami League supporters took to the streets and attacked trains, railway stations, vehicles and government offices.

Bangladesh won't rule out foreign hand in blasts

27 Aug 2004 10:21:04 GMT

Source: Reuters

(Updates with no protest over sect)

By Masud Karim

DHAKA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Bangladesh has not ruled out foreign involvement in a grenade attack on an opposition rally last week that killed 19 people and wounded more than 150.

The government, faced with domestic and international pressure after the attack on the rally addressed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, sought Interpol's help on Thursday in investigating the violence.

"In fact, we are weighing all the domestic and foreign aspects of the blasts," Reaz Rahman, adviser to the Foreign Ministry, told Reuters when asked if the government suspected a foreign hand.

"We will rely on Interpol as it is the most credible (organisation) with a huge anti-crime network across the world.

"We need Interpol's assistance to probe the grenade attack as we do not have adequate expertise to handle such a big crime," Rahman said. He did not elaborate.

At least seven grenades exploded at Hasina's rally and the main opposition Awami League leader said the attack was an attempt to kill her.

Bangladesh, a volatile Muslim-majority democracy, has been rocked by a series of mysterious bombings since 2000 which have killed more than 105 and wounded more than 500.

The bombers have set off explosions at cinemas, concerts, opposition rallies and minority religious institutions.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's government has been unable to catch the bombers and is facing criticism for its inability to stop them. The British High Commissioner was wounded in a blast in May in Sylhet town in the northeast.

The government accepted Scotland Yard's help in investigating the Sylhet blast, but this is the first time it has asked Interpol for aid. Government officials were not available for comment on whether Interpol had replied to the request.

The Awami League and Hasina, whose hearing in both ears has been temporarily impaired by Saturday's blasts, say militants close to Islamic parties in Khaleda's ruling coalition were behind the attack.

Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party has rejected the allegations, condemned the blasts and vowed to hunt down the culprits.

Hasina received a death threat on Tuesday from a previously unknown Islamic group which said it would target her within seven days. Police said they were investigating.

PROTESTS

Saturday's attack has led to opposition protests and strikes. More than 230 people have been injured and one person killed in attacks by opposition supporters on trains, railway stations, vehicles and government offices and in clashes with police.

On Friday, a holiday in Bangladesh, about 200 Awami League supporters formed a human chain in front of Supreme Court in Dhaka and put up a black banner which read: "We want an international probe into the heinous carnage".

The Awami League has called for another general strike on Saturday.

Analysts say the government has to act to stop the security situation from deteriorating and the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch called on the government to catch the bombers.

"The ... government must make, and be seen to be making, every step to apprehend the perpetrators of these attacks," Brad Adams, a senior official of the group said in a statement from New York.

Separately, the government saw off another challenge to its authority when a plan by an alliance of radical Muslims to lay siege to a minority sect's mosque fizzled out following the arrest of two alliance leaders, deployment of a strong police force and monsoon rains.

The radical alliance says the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect sees its leader as the last prophet, which mainstream Muslims, who believe the last prophet was Muhammad, would call heretical.

Ahmadiyyas deny considering their leader the last prophet but nevertheless, the radicals want the sect declared non-Muslim.

Hundreds of riot police equipped with shields, teargas and rubber bullets, took up position in heavy rain around the Ahmadiyya mosque in Dhaka while about 600 sect members went to say Friday prayers. No radical protesters turned up. (Additional reporting by Anis Ahmed and Nizam Ahmed)

Hartal ends without major violence
15 hurt in clashes
Staff Correspondent
A daylong countrywide hartal enforced by main opposition Awami League's (AL) women's and youth fronts brought life and business to a halt for the fourth time in last seven days and left at least 15 wounded in sporadic clashes.

The shutdown, which passed off without major incidents of violence in heavily-guarded capital Dhaka, coincided with a countrywide programme of the ruling BNP-led four-party alliance in protest against the August 21 grisly grenade attack on an AL rally on Bangabandhu Avenue that killed 19 people and injured over 200 others.

The Mohila Awami League and the Jubo League jointly enforced the stoppage to protest the grisly bombing on the AL rally and the apparent attempt to assassinate Leader of the Opposition and AL President Sheikh Hasina. The shutdown was called also to demand resignation of the coalition government for what they said was its failure to run the country.

The AL and 20 women's organisations extended their support to the latest shutdown that came after two other back-to-back hartals that the AL, JSD and 11-party enforced on Tuesday and Wednesday and another on Saturday enforced by the three alongside National Awami Party (Nap-Muzaffar).

Traffic, except for a few rickshaws and minibuses, thinned out of the otherwise crowded streets of capital Dhaka and schools, shops and private offices remained closed.

Riot police and paramilitary BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) forces heavily guarded the streets in the capital to maintain order. The BNP staged a rally at Muktangan and the Jamaat-e-Islami at the north gate of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque as part of the protest programme.

Activists of ruling BNP-led four-party alliance stormed a scheduled venue of an AL rally in Sylhet city but there were no reports of violence. In Comilla, a clash between AL and BNP supporters left 10 AL workers wounded and police clubbed women pickets in Jessore, injuring at least five of them after they attacked some rickshawpullers during the hartal.

In the capital, opposition activists staged demonstrations on Bangabandhu Avenue and in Motijheel, Rampura, Mirpur, Old Dhaka and Russell Square areas demanding resignation of the coalition government.

Police clubbed a procession of Mohila Awami League near Russell Square and picked up AL central leader Nazma Rahman in the morning. They, however, released Nazma after confining her to Dhanmondi Police Station for about three hours.

Some AL lawmakers took out a procession from the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban and the processionists paraded through the Mirpur Road before meeting in a rally at Russell Square.

Police also picked up at least three women activists from a procession led by AL presidium member Motia Chowdhury in Rampura.

Large numbers of policemen cordoned off the headquarters of the AL and its front organisations on Bangabandhu Avenue since early morning. Police also put up barbed-wire fences on the roads to the headquarters and allowed only senior leaders to stage demonstrations inside the barricaded area.

The Mohila Awami League led by its President Ashrafunnesa Mosharaf and General Secretary Fazilatunnesa Indira brought out a procession about 12.30pm from Motijheel commercial area. Police barred them from marching toward the Shapla Chattar, prompting the demonstrators to hold an impromptu rally near the Mohammedan Sporting Club.

AL lawmaker Asaduzzaman Noor later joined the demonstrators who marched to the Shapla Chattar. When the agitators were near the Chattar, police tried to pick up an opposition woman worker, but the leaders whisked her away.

The demonstrators held a second rally at the Shapla Chattar where Noor blamed the government for the August 21 carnage and demanded its resignation. He observed the perpetrators of the deadly attacks would remain unidentified unless there is an independent, international inquiry.

Activists of the AL and the BNP clashed at Mainamati Bazar of Burichang Upazila in Comilla about 10:30am, leaving at least 10 AL workers injured. The clash erupted when the ruling party activists obstructed their opposition counterparts from picketing on Comilla-Sylhet highway, our Comilla correspondent reports.

In Barisal, a group of ruling alliance-backed cadres attacked and ransacked the house of Convenor of city AL Shawkat Hossain Hiron at Alekanda yesterday morning, according to our Barisal correspondent. The hartal was observed partially in the district and a few pickets came out on the streets.

Police in a pre-hartal overnight raid on their houses arrested 19 leaders and workers of Rajshahi City unit of the AL, our staff correspondent from Rajshahi adds. Hartal paralysed normal life there.

The city BNP and Jamat-e-Islami organised a procession and a rally in Saheb Bazar to protest the grenade attacks on the AL rally in Dhaka.

The hartal disrupted activities at the country's prime seaport, putting brakes on transportation of cargo to other districts, our staff correspondent from Chittagong reports.

Stray incidents of violence marked the shutdown in Khulna city as some unruly youths set fire to important documents of the Mass Communications Office under the Ministry of Information and two government vehicles, according to our staff correspondent in the southwestern city.