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Bangladesh Paralyzed by Strike Over Blasts
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Activists from the Bangladesh opposition chant slogans as police cordon them in Dhaka. (Reuters).
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DHAKA,
August 20, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Bangladesh was
hit Saturday, August 20, by a nationwide strike called by the
opposition to protest hundreds of simultaneous bomb blasts across the
country last week.
The
streets of the normally congested capital were virtually deserted,
with only rickshaws and a few three-wheel taxis and buses plying the
roads, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
strike was called by the opposition Awami League and its partners, who
have been waging a fierce campaign to oust the coalition led by the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party that it accuses of failing to crack down
on extremism, corruption and crime.
Most
schools and businesses were shut and deliveries were halted to the
port in Chittagong, the country's second biggest city.
The
shutdown came after Prime Minister Khaleda Zia cut short a visit to
China and returned home late Friday because of the blasts.
Zia
has labeled the attackers enemies of democracy and said they had an
"evil design" to destabilize the world's third most populous
Muslim nation.
She
condemned the incident as a "heinous, cowardly, conspiratorial
and well-planned act of terrorism".
She
has further appealed for calm and ordered security agencies to crack
down on suspects.
No
one has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's simultaneous explosions
in 60 cities and towns, which caused little damage and appeared to be
aimed at spreading panic.
But
copies of a leaflet found at the bomb sites carried a call by
Jamayet-ul-Mujahideen, a banned group, for Islamic rule in Bangladesh.
Jamayet-ul-Mujahideen
was banned in February after being linked to a wave of bombings of
non-governmental organization offices, shrines and events such as
fairs and traditional folk opera performances.
Police
Crackdown
Meanwhile,
security was tightened Saturday as police kept up a large-scale hunt
for the bombers.
"We've
tightened security. There are more than 9,000 troops on guard in Dhaka
to prevent any violence," the country's Inspector General of
Police Abdul Kaiyum told AFP, adding that the situation was calm.
He
said 120 people had been arrested over the simultaneous bombings in
nearly all Bangladeshi cities and towns.
Those
detained include a number a number of people who had planted bombs,
and some of them had told interrogators they belonged to
Jamayet-ul-Mujahideen.
"We're
trying to learn the extent of their operation, how powerful this group
is, and whether any other group was linked to the bombings,"
Abdul Kaiyum said.
A
senior police officer told Reuters Saturday that nearly 20 out of
those arrested claimed themselves as militants of
Jamayet-ul-Mujahideen and said they have acted under the instructions
of their mentors.
The
opposition, led by the Awami League party of former prime minister
Sheikh Hasina, has blamed the government for not cracking down on
militancy earlier. Hasina escaped unhurt in a bomb attack in August
last year in which 23 of her party members were killed.
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