In Bangladesh’s capital, hundreds of supporters of the opposition engaged in combat with law enforcement, reinforcing calls for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down prior to the country’s elections the following year. After the largest demonstration against the prime minister was broken up, police in Dhaka reported that one officer had died and more than 100 had been injured.
According to Faruk Hossain, a spokesman for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, “the constable was hacked in the head by opposition activists,” and the officers were the targets of “opposition attacks.”
In order to put pressure on Sheikh Hasina to resign so that a caretaker government could hold free and fair elections in January, the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, called for a nonviolent demonstration in Dhaka. The administration declined the request, citing a ruling by Bangladesh’s highest court declaring the caretaker system unconstitutional.
#Rajarbagh police hospital’s ambulance torched during a clash between BNP men and police in #Dhaka.
Read more – https://t.co/QPnu41r0fI pic.twitter.com/k2sMNBnWk9
— The Daily Star (@dailystarnews) October 28, 2023
Police drove armoured vehicles down the road, firing tear gas shells to scatter the demonstrators as they protested. Social media users posted videos of the altercations between protesters and police. In an effort to protest the “police crackdown” on the opposition, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami broke through police barricades to hold a separate anti-government rally. Meanwhile, the BNP declared its intention to call for a daylong nationwide shutdown.
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As tensions simmered in Dhaka and other major cities, the ruling Bangladesh Awami League was also holding another rally, vowing to occupy every street in the city to keep the opposition at bay. In relation to protests, police detained at least 1,680 BNP supporters in four days.
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