Nationwide strike begins in Bangladesh

The government of Bangladesh has deployed troops in the north of the country as six more people were killed in fresh clashes over the conviction of an Islamist party leader for war crimes in the Muslim-majority nation.

The army was deployed in violence-wracked Shahjahanpur town on Sunday after more than 5,000 stick-wielding protesters attacked two police stations, forcing police to open fire, they said. The Jamaat-e-Islami, country’s largest Islamic party, has enforced a nationwide two-day strike, set to begin on Sunday, to protest the verdict and killing of its activists in police “brutalities”.

“At least four people were killed in clashes after Jamaat-e-Islami supporters attacked us. The toll could rise,” Shahjahanpur district’s deputy police chief Moqbul Ahmed said, adding that troops had been deployed to boost security.

Our correspondent in Bangladesh, who we are not naming for security purposes, says there has been no let up in the violence since the verdict was issued.

“Troops are on the streets in the northern district of Bogra – after police stations came under attack – and it is the only district in Bangladesh where the army has been deployed, because they are very concerned about what’s happened in the last 24 hours.”

“Section 144 of the penal code has now been imposed, which means that gatherings of four or more people are banned,” our correspondent added.

Deadly clashes
Two other people were also killed on Saturday night, including a ruling party student activist who was allegedly hacked to death by suspected Jamaat supporters, police said.

An inter-city train was torched late Saturday in the northwest but there were no casualties, police said.

The death toll in the clashes over the war crimes verdicts has risen to 62 since January 21, including 46 killed in the past four days after Jamaat’s vice president was sentenced to death, police said.

Delwar Hossain Sayedee was found guilty of murder, religious persecution and rape during the 1971 independence war on Thursday, triggering violent clashes between Jamaat supporters and police across the country.

The 73-year-old leader was the third person to be convicted by the war crimes tribunal, whose verdicts have been met with outrage from supporters.

Jamaat says the tribunal process is politically motivated, something the Bangladesh government denies.

India’s President Pranab Mukherjee is on a three-day state visit to Bangladesh.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai told local media Mukherjee’s visit “is not designed to engage in political negotiations”.

The war crimes trials of a dozen Jamaat and main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders have opened old wounds and divided the nation, with the opposition parties accusing the government of staging a witch-hunt.

The government, which says the war claimed three million lives, rejects the claims and accuses Jamaat leaders for much of the carnage during the 1971 independence war.

Jamaat-e-Islami backed Pakistan during the independence war but denies their supporters were involved in atrocities.

Independent estimates put the death toll from the war in which Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan at a much lower figure of 300,000 to 500,000.

Source: Al Jazeera