DHAKA: Bangladesh police fired tear gas at protesters on Monday as a nationwide strike called by the main opposition party sparked clashes that left dozens injured and brought the country to a standstill.
In Rajshahi town, 150 miles (200 kilometres) northwest of Dhaka, hundreds of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activists threw rocks at officers and vandalised vehicles, prompting police to react with tear gas and baton charges.
"At least 15 strike supporters were arrested," deputy commissioner of Rajshahi police Anwarul Morshed Khan told AFP.
Battles between riot police and stone-throwing BNP activists broke out in other towns across the country, police said, leaving dozens injured, including several policemen.
At protests in the capital Dhaka, police used batons to break up BNP street demonstrations. Several people were injured, police said, while about 25 passengers had to flee a bus after activists attacked it and set it on fire.
Thousands of riot police patrolled through Dhaka and other key cities as the strike closed down much of the country, with all shops, businesses and schools shut, and major roads deserted.
The BNP, led by two times ex-premier Khaleda Zia, called the strike to protest against controversial plans for a new airport, rocketing food prices and a stock market crash that has hit thousands of small investors.
Dhaka's benchmark DGEN share index has shed nearly 30 percent from its peak early in December.
Police said more than a thousand investors joined the strike after the index sank 5.7 percent on Sunday, triggering protests by small traders.
On Monday, investors burned an effigy of the finance minister and attacked the Securities and Exchange office with rocks and stones, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.
The market slid 4.83 percent or 324.51 points during the day to close at 6394.53. In the past three days, the market has dropped 12.5 percent.
Eight buses were set on fire overnight in the capital just hours before the strike was enforced, police said.
"At least 8,500 police have been deployed in Dhaka. Security is tight," the deputy commissioner of Dhaka police, Habibur Rahman, told AFP.
BNP officials and supporters held small protest marches, chanting slogans against the government.
The party's head office was cordoned off by scores of riot police, who had a water cannon ready to break up protests.
The strike was the third that the BNP has called since suffering a crushing defeat in December 2008 elections.
It was prompted by a government plan to construct an airport on a flood plain in Srinagar, just south of Dhaka, which triggered violent demonstrations by at least 20,000 villagers late last month.
A policeman was beaten to death during the protests.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who wants to name the airport after her father, the country's founding leader, said it would now be constructed at a different site.
The BNP has criticised the plan as a waste of taxpayers' money and said the country's three international airports can meet rising demand for air traffic.
The party is also keen to exploit discontent over higher food prices, with food inflation hitting double-digit rates in recent months following two poor harvests and soaring prices on the international market.
Chittagong port in the southwest, which handles 90 percent of Bangladesh's foreign trade, ground to a halt due to the strike.
Comments
Comments are closed.