Anti-government protesters set fire to a train: four dead
The incident involved a train that left the northern district of Netrokona for the capital. A 32-year-old woman and her three-year-old son were among the victims. Train tracks have been reportedly removed. The government blames the opposition for the violence. For protest leaders, the train attack was an attempt to sabotage their action.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) – The national strike called by the opposition, which is demanding the government resign ahead of general elections set for next month, has seen blood spilled.
This morning, a group of protesters set fire to a train, killing four people, including a mother and a child.
The incident is but the latest amid a wave of violence and rising tensions that have spread across the country recently, with anti-government protest resulting in buses and vehicles set on fire, with at least six people dead since 28 October.
"Strike supporters set fire to three compartments of an express train," said fire service official Shahjahan Shikder. "Four bodies have been retrieved from a compartment." The dead include a 32-year-old woman and her three-year-old son.
It is currently unclear how many people were on the train, which, at the time of the attack, was travelling from Netrokona, a district in northern Bangladesh, to Dhaka.
"Apart from setting fire to trains, parts of the railway line are being removed at several places," said Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan.
"It is difficult to provide adequate security on such a large railway line," he added; nonetheless, he vowed to deploy 2,700 paramilitary troops within a couple of days to guard against further sabotage.
With its main leaders either in prison or exile, the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is calling on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign to let a caretaker government rule until the elections. In the meantime, the party is boycotting the poll, scheduled for 7 January.
The outgoing prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, is seeking a fourth consecutive term and has repeatedly rejected opposition calls for her resignation, blaming the BNP for the protests and election bloodshed.
As for today's incident, a senior opposition party representative called for an investigation, stressing that it represents an attempt to sabotage the protest and discredit the anti-government movement.
"This kind of heinous and diabolical work is possible only with the help of illegal and anti-people forces," said the BNP’s Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
Out of 300 constituencies, Hasina's Awami League party shares 26 with its ally, the Jatiya Party, allowing the latter to field candidates in a total of 283 seats.
Human rights groups have accused the government of targeting opposition leaders and supporters. While the government has denied such claims, it faces pressure from Western countries to hold free, fair and participatory elections.
In line with its usual practice, the Bangladesh Election Commission has decided to deploy the army starting on 29 December to deter any violence.
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23/11/2006
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