Tens of thousands of protestors, gathered under the banner of Bangladesh’s main opposition party, took to the streets of Dhaka on Saturday, demanding new elections from the government and the resignation of the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Tensions heightened in the Bangladesh capital as the marchers rallied at the Golapbagh sports ground chanting “Sheikh Hasina is a vote thief”.
The country’s largest protest since 2009 comes days after security forces raided the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) headquarters on Tuesday, killing one person, while dozens of others were left injured.
BNP has been arranging several anti-government protests across the country in recent months, accusing Prime Minister Hasina of failing to address rising fuel prices, power cuts, and the cost of living.
BNP vice-chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu told that the party, “aiming to restore democracy”, made 10 demands, including the resignation of the government, the dissolution of parliament, the formation of a neutral caretaker cabinet, and the dropping of all cases against recently arrested BNP members and leaders.
“Our main demand is Sheikh Hasina resign and parliament is dissolved and let a neutral caretaker government step in to hold a free and fair election,” BNP spokesman Zahiruddin Swapan said.
According to a BNP official, a total of 200,000 people had joined their rally on Saturday by mid-morning. Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruq Ahmed, however, rejected the claim, saying that the venue could not hold more than 30,000 people.
Police crackdown
Police had been making several arrests in the lead-up to Saturday’s protest, including two of the BNP’s top leaders, one of which is party secretary general Mirza Alamgir on Friday. Alamgir was facing charges, without providing him with any further details, according to the authorities.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hasina has rejected all calls to stand down and has responded by describing the opposition leaders as “arson terrorists” and warned people against allowing the BNP – the largest opposition party – back into power.
The White House earlier on called on the government of Bangladesh to fully investigate reports of violence against journalists and human rights activists ahead of the major political protest. Local media in Bangladesh this week reported police killed one person and wounded more than 60 people in Dhaka when they fired upon activists and members of the country’s largest opposition party BNP.