Bangladeshi court sends BNP leader to prison as opposition enforces transport blockade

Dhaka: A court in Bangladesh on Sunday ordered the imprisonment of opposition BNP leader and former home minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury in a case filed over vandalism of the chief justice's residence during a clash between his party supporters and police that left two people dead.

The direction of the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court came as clashes and clandestine arson attacks left dozens, including policemen, wounded and vehicles burnt amid a new 48-hour nationwide transport blockade called by the opposition.

Chowdhury, a former Air Force chief, was arrested by the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from the suburban Tongi area.

Hours after his arrest, the court ordered that the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) vice chairman be sent to jail.

Besides Chowdhury, several other leaders of ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia’s BNP were arrested in connection with the deadly violence in Dhaka on October 28 in which two people, including a policeman, were killed and the city saw widespread clashes, including an attack on the chief justice’s residence.

Police said they arrested 2,172 opposition leaders and activists last week under 89 cases of violence and sabotage in the capital alone, while media reports suggested that nearly 8,000 opposition figures were detained in a nationwide crackdown during the period.

BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who is considered the de facto leader of the party, and his number two Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury are among the leaders who are in prison to face the charges.

A 79-year-old ailing Zia, who was serving a 17-year prison term on two graft charges, is now technically under house arrest since her release under a special legal arrangement that debarred her from taking part in political activities. She, however, is now being treated at a specialised private hospital for multiple health issues.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Anisul Huq told reporters on Sunday that BNP leaders were “not arrested for political reasons, but for their involvement in criminal activities (and) it has nothing to do with politics”.

BNP’s senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi in a virtual press conference said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government “has turned the country into a big prison” by arresting thousands of opposition leaders, workers and supporters.

Political tensions mount in Bangladesh as BNP and its far-right allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami wage a street campaign demanding the resignation of the Awami League government to allow a non-party interim government to conduct the upcoming general elections in early January.

The ruling party has declined to accept the demand saying elections would be held under the incumbent premier. Hasina has also rejected proposals for dialogue with the opposition by the US and other major Western countries, calling BNP a terrorist organisation.

The opposition’s fresh nationwide blockade came after the weekend of Friday and Saturday when rioters set on fire at least 11 buses, while violence in the past week saw the deaths of at least five people across the country.

Three policemen on street patrol were wounded as unidentified people hurled handmade bombs in the capital’s Uttara area.

Authorities deployed paramilitary troops to guard highways and maintain order in major cities and asked police and other security agencies to intensify vigilance against sabotage.

On October 28, a police constable was hacked to death in Dhaka where political violence left some 200 people, including journalists, wounded as BNP called a grand protest rally and Awami League a “peace rally” in the national capital.

The rival programmes resulted in clashes mainly between opposition protesters and police, who used rubber bullets, tear gas and sound grenades to control the situation.

The violence forced the BNP to abruptly end their rally and called for a subsequent three days of countrywide general strike and at the end of the stoppage a nationwide blockade until Thursday.