Dhaka: Bangladesh remains tense over the death sentence given to a top Islamist opposition leader for his role in atrocities, including rape and killings, during the country’s 1971 freedom war. Twenty four people have died overnight in clashes across the country.
Today is day two of President Pranab Mukerjee’s visit to the country. In an apparent fall-out of the domestic political crisis, Opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia has cancelled her meeting with him today citing security concerns. Mr Mukherjee had met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday.
The clashes between people celebrating the death sentence for the war crimes and supporters of the convicted Jamaat-e-Islami chief Delwar Hossain Sayeedi have forced a shutdown in the capital Dhaka and had claimed at least 76 lives in the country till Sunday.
The Jamaat-e-Islami called for a two-day nationwide general strike starting yesterday in protest against the war crimes trials supported by the Sheikh Hasina government.
The Jamaat is an ally of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and was a partner in her government from 2001 to 2006. Khaleda Zia has also called for a strike on Tuesday.
Source: NDTV