Two killed in anti-government protest in Bangladesh

Two individuals have been killed and dozens injured in clashes in Bangladesh on Tuesday between anti-government protesters and police on the primary day of a three-day protest to push for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The major opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) known as for the blockade of roads for 3 days in response to clashes between get together supporters and police on Sunday through which one policeman was killed and greater than 100 individuals have been injured.

The get together has been calling on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign to permit elections scheduled for January to be held underneath a impartial caretaker authorities. Her authorities has rejected the demand.

A police official within the central district of Kishoreganj, the place the clashes occurred, mentioned two protesters have been killed and dozens of individuals, together with 15 policemen, have been injured.

“Clashes erupted when they attacked us,” mentioned the police official, who declined to be recognized, including it was not clear how the 2 have been killed.

“We had to fire rubber bullets to bring the situation under control,” he mentioned.

A BNP chief condemned the police saying they have been performing on the behest of the federal government.

“This brutal killing by the police is cowardly. Sheikh Hasina has given licence to the police to kill indiscriminately to stop the movement to restore democracy,” mentioned BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Hasina got here to energy in 2009 and oversaw years of sturdy financial development however she has been accused of rights violations, cracking down on free speech and suppressing dissent with the jailing of critics.

The authorities denies the accusations however it’s underneath strain from Western international locations to carry free and truthful elections. The United States has mentioned it should limit visas for Bangladeshis who undermine the democratic course of.

Accusations of vote-rigging and the suppression of the opposition, denied by the federal government, marred elections in 2014 and 2018.