The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, in order to make way for a neutral government to supervise the next elections.
Violent clashes with the police broke out on Saturday October 28 in Bangladesh during a massive demonstration by opponents of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The clashes led to the death of a police officer and a demonstrator. The authorities also report numerous injuries.
In the midst of a political crisis in the country, more than 100,000 opponents, according to the police, took part in banned rallies in the capital, Dhaka. They are demanding the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and making way for a neutral government to oversee the next elections.
Police used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to disperse the rallies organized by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e- Islami. The demonstrators responded by throwing stones and bricks in several streets of the capital. The killed police officer was “hit on the head by opposition activists”. Around 100 others were injured, said the Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesperson.
Call for a national strike on Sunday
“Shamim Molla, one of the leaders of the Young Guard, was shot and killed by the police”a party spokesperson, Sayrul Kabir Khan, told AFP. At least 20 people were injured by rubber bullets and taken to the country’s main hospital, a police inspector assured earlier.
This Saturday marks a new stage in the protests before the general elections scheduled for the end of January. The BNP has also called for a national strike on Sunday to protest against the violence of the police.
Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the country’s first president, has been in power for fifteen years and has seen her country experience rapid economic growth that has allowed it to overtake neighboring India in terms of gross domestic product per capita. But his government is accused of corruption and human rights violations.