DHAKA: Dozens of polling booths were torched and a train set alight on the eve of Bangladesh’s election as the opposition launched a 48-hour strike against the vote “farce.”
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is boycotting the vote, called the two-day general strike -- but it has little chance of thwarting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s re-election in what is effectively a one-party contest.
The strike comes after BNP leader Khaleda Zia issued an appeal to voters to also “completely boycott” what she called “a scandalous farce”, and accused the government of placing her under house arrest.
The build-up to the vote has been dominated by political violence, with around 150 people killed since the date was set in October.
Observers fear the contest will heighten tensions after Bangladesh endured its bloodiest 12 months since a brutal 1971 independence war against Pakistan.
The main headline in yesterday’s Dhaka Tribune read: “Tension, fear mark build-up to the polls”, while all newspapers carried pictures of the latest victims of the violence, many of them with horrific burns.
One opposition activist was killed yesterday in the northern town of Patgram during clashes with governing Awami League supporters, police said.
Officials also said that protesters had set fire to or attempted to torch 34 polling booths, but said the attacks would not derail the election.
A group of BNP activists hurled a petrol bomb through the window of a train carriage in the northwestern town of Natore, injuring six passengers, police said.
Although the government denies that Zia has been detained, dozens of riot police could be seen outside her home in Dhaka yesterday, along with water-cannon and sand trucks, preventing anyone from entering.
The BNP and 20 other parties are boycotting the polls after Hasina rejected their demands that it be overseen by a neutral caretaker government.
This weekend’s strike is only the latest in a string of such protests, which have forced the closure of schools, offices and shops.
After frequent firebombings of vehicles, many people are too scared to leave home during the shutdowns.
Police say 1,200 opposition activists have been detained, although the parties say the actual number is much higher.
Around 50,000 troops have been deployed across the country in a bid to contain the unrest.
The United States, European Union and Commonwealth have refused to send observers to an election that the opposition says lacks any credibility.
The outcome is not in doubt as Awami League candidates are running unopposed in 153 of the 300 seats.
AFP
