On 28th October, at least one police officer was killed while around 100 people were injured during an opposition party protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government in Bangladesh. According to police officials and media persons present at the protest sites, dozens of vehicles, including police vans and ambulances, were set on fire.
Speaking to the media, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) spokesman Faruq Hossain stated that one officer had been killed and 41 others were injured in clashes with protesters. Several journalists were attacked and injured while trying to cover the clashes, local media reported.
To control the protestors, Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on supporters of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Reportedly, tens of thousands of BNP supporters had gathered in the country’s capital Dhaka and chanted slogans against the government.
The BNP has been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and calling for a free and fair election under a caretaker government. They demand that the government should allow elections which are scheduled in January to be held under a neutral caretaker government – a demand which the Sheikh Hasina government has so far rejected.
Speaking to Reuters, senior BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan said, “Today’s rally continued for hours in a perfectly disciplined and peaceful manner until all of a sudden the lobbying of tear gas shells started. The intensity increased and violent attacks with sounds of blasts and shootings turned the whole place into a war zone.”
Earlier, the DMP had granted permission to both the BNP and ruling party Awami League for their rallies with the condition that it would proceed peacefully, however, the rally turned violent leaving scores with serious injuries.
According to the witnesses and media reports, the violence broke out at the Kakrail area in Dhaka when BNP supporters led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia allegedly attacked a bus carrying the ruling Awami League’s members to a separate rally a few blocks away.
The Footage on Somoy TV station revealed a roadside police box set on fire, torched vehicles and shattered glass from a building. While Ekattor TV station reported that a police hospital also was attacked.
BNP supporters have alleged that the rallies were peaceful and it turned violent after brutal actions by the police while police said that the BNP supporters initiated the attack.
According to the DMP, the BNP activists initiated an attack starting with an assault on the chief justice’s residence around 1pm. Consequently, the area of clashes gradually expanded to various parts of the capital, including Kakrail, Paltan, Shantinagar, Segun Bagicha, around the High Court area, Paltan, Bijoynagar, and Arambagh.
DMP Detective Branch chief Mohammad Harun-ur-Rashid said, “BNP leaders and activists initiated the attack on government establishments. The BNP had previously pledged to conduct the event peacefully and had obtained permission from the DMP commissioner under such conditions. However, suddenly, after 12pm, they launched an attack at the gate of the chief justice’s residence and in front of the Judges’ Quarters. In addition, two vehicles were set on fire in front of the IDB building, and BNP leaders and activists hurled bricks at the police. The police made efforts to control the situation.”
Meanwhile, in the southeastern district of Chattogram, PM Sheikh Hasina lambasted the opposition for holding the rally. She asserted that Zia’s party was attempting to derail her government’s development agenda.
Addressing a huge rally at Anwara in Chattogram, she said, “Today BNP (Zia’s party) wants to oust the government. They are giving various types of threats to launch a movement … No threat will work.”
