Two senior leaders of Bangladesh’s main opposition party have been arrested in a violent crackdown on government opponents. At least seven people have been shot dead, and thousands have been arrested.
In recent weeks, Sheikh Hasina’s government has launched a crackdown on the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which has held rallies calling for its resignation.
The BNP has accused Hasina’s ruling Awami League of corruption, human rights abuses and imposing crippling fuel price increases. The BNP staged an anti-government protest rally in the capital, Dhaka, expected to be attended by hundreds of thousands of supporters
The BNP alleges its leaders are framed in bogus business to prevent the protest from continuing. In the early hours of Friday morning, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and former BNP Minister Mirza Abbas were taken from their homes by police. Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruq Ahmed confirmed the leaders were arrested on suspicion of inciting violence against the police.
AKM Wahiduzzaman, the leader of the BNP, said: “The government has arrested the two senior leaders for keeping them away from our rally in Dhaka in a plot to sabotage tomorrow’s program. However, we will not return on our plan and will hold our planned rally in Dhaka tomorrow.”
This followed an incident on Wednesday where one person was killed and more than 60 injured after police fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at a BNP protest that broke out. held outside the party offices in Dhaka. Over 400 BNP members and supporters were arrested during the protest.
The BNP calls for the resignation of Hasina and for holding new elections under a neutral interim government. Hasina, however, refused and announced this week that the next general elections would be held in January 2024.
Wahiduzzaman said seven people had been shot dead, and authorities had arrested at least 6,000 BNP supporters in recent weeks as the ruling party tried to stem a wave of opposition amid growing discontent with the government. economy and allegations of corruption and abuse.
Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s regional director for South Asia, said there had been “an alarming escalation of repression by the authorities” in recent weeks.
Mishra said police firing live ammunition at protesters “shows that authorities in Bangladesh have very little regard for the sanctity of human life and sends a chilling message that those who dare to exercise their human rights will face disastrous consequences”.
Both the 2014 and the 2018 general elections in Bangladesh were tainted by allegations of vote-rigging and the targeting of the political opposition, charges the Awami League deny. In recent months, the UN, the US and other countries have repeatedly urged the Bangladeshi government to hold a free, fair and all-inclusive election. Still, the crackdown on the BNP has continued unabated.