With neither the Sheikh Hasina-led government nor the opposition showing any sign of retreat, Bangladesh on Tuesday looked headed towards a new political crisis.
BNP chief Khaleda Zia was in the fourth day of her “confinement” on Tuesday as her supporters clashed with the police and resorted to arson and vandalism in the streets of Dhaka and elsewhere to enforce the indefinite national blockade.
Showing a tough attitude towards the blockade, which senior BNP leader Tareque Rahman declared was aimed at “toppling” Sheikh Hasina from power, the police on Tuesday arrested BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. To avoid arrest, Mr. Alamgir stayed at the National Press Club since Monday night “under protection” from club authorities.
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The Minister in-charge of the home ministry on Tuesday said Khaleda Zia was free to move out of her office, adding that the government would give her the necessary protection. However, BNP leaders refuted this, alleging that with law enforcers deployed at the main gate, which was locked, Khaleda was not in a position to go out.
Even if the first day of the indefinite blockade did not gain support from the people at large, it may have affected plans of thousands of Muslim devotees likely to join congregation of Tabligh Jamaat in Tongi, on the outskirts of Dhaka.
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Over 500 devotees, who crossed the border from India to join the biggest annual Islamic congregation after Hajj, were stranded at the Benapore land port. Explosion of handmade bombs rocked Old Dhaka on Tuesday to which the police responded by firing blanks. No casualties were reported.
BNP and Jamaat activists also set on fire half a dozen vehicles, including buses and private cars, in Dhaka. Some of them pounded two policemen with bricks in Rajshahi city. The cops were rushed to hospital in a critical condition.
Activists from Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islamic, dropped crude bombs on a police van in Rajshahi. They also beat up policemen and snatched their weapons.
TV boss arrestedThe police arrested the owner of the private television channel Ekushe TV (ETV) midnight Monday. Abdus Salam was sent to jail Tuesday in connection with a case filed under ‘Pornography Act’. The government indicated that the channel may face legal action under the ICT act for giving coverage to BNP Sr. Vice chairman Tarique Rahman, elder son of Khaleda Zia, who is wanted in over a dozen cases, including criminal ones.