Rival Political Rallies Put Bangladesh Capital on Edge

Arun Devnath
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Bangladesh’s main opposition group kicked off an anti-government protest calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down to ensure free and fair elections in January, coinciding with the visit of a top US human rights official.

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The Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s protests could clash with a so-called “peace rally” planned by Hasina’s ruling Awami League Wednesday near a national mosque, a short distance from the opposition group’s protest site.

“No obstacles can stop people’s march. They will arrive in waves from all over the city, turning the rally into a historic event,” Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary general of the BNP said on Tuesday. “We want this government to go, clearing the path to elections under a non-partisan caretaker government.”

The political rivals are taking to the streets of Dhaka as Uzra Zeya, the US under secretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights is on a four-day visit to the South Asian nation.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police said in a notice that the organizers of the opposition protest “must refrain from making anti-state speeches and will be held responsible for any breach of law and order during the rally.”

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced a plan to organize nationwide marches on July 18-19 to intensify the party’s anti-government campaign.

Read more: Bangladesh Vows Free and Fair Elections After US Visa Curbs

Washington has recently announced plans to deny visas to Bangaldeshi citizens viewed to be complicit in interfering in the elections. A European Union team is also in Dhaka to assess the feasibility of deploying election observers.

While the BNP’s street protests are the biggest since December and coincide with the visit by US and European officials, they don’t pose an immediate threat to Hasina and her tight grip on power.

Previous government crackdowns have hollowed out the BNP and hundreds of activists and leaders are behind bars. Using criminal complaints against large numbers of “unknown” people is a common practice in Bangladesh, allowing the police to intimidate and threaten virtually anyone with arrest, Human Rights Watch said in a report last year.

The anti-government protesters have raised concerns that Hasina’s Awami League party could try and rig elections to cling to power as seen over the past decade. They want a national vote under a now-disbanded caretaker system.

Protests picked up steam in December, with thousands of opposition supporters gathering at an open field in Dhaka. But the momentum fizzled out just as quickly when riot police fired bullets and tear gas and security forces rounded up protesters.

(Updates with opposition protest dates in sixth paragraph.)

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