Opposition tries to shut down Bangladesh's transport

Opposition tries to shut down Bangladesh's transport

DHAKA (Reuter): More than 40 people were injured yesterday
when opposition parties tried to shut down inter-city transport
in their latest attempt to force an early election in Bangladesh,
witnesses said.

Opposition activists attacked a train in the northern region
of Lalmanir Hat and halted several others across the country,
transport officials said. Buses and lorries did not operate at
all while ferry services were disrupted, they added.

A dozen activists were hurt in Lalmanir Hat and Mymensingh,
also in the north. More than 30 were injured as police used
truncheons to disperse activists demonstrating in the capital,
Dhaka, witnesses said.

Police outnumbered protesters in and around the capital,
witnesses said.

"It's only a partial blockade under a tight security watch.
Police and troops largely outnumbered activists on the streets,"
one said.

"This is the dullest blockade I have ever seen in many years,"
a police officer at Tongi railway station, 12 kilometers from
Dhaka, said.

The blockade, called by three main opposition parties
including the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina, aimed to put
pressure on Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia to step down and
allow early elections under a neutral caretaker government.

Similar blockades, strikes and other unrest in the past have
failed to force Khaleda, elected in 1991, into submission.

Reports from outside Dhaka yesterday, however, said the
blockade was effective in some places, including the port city of
Chittagong.

"The blockade is total in this city. No transport moved in or
out since morning," a Chittagong official said.

Reporters in the southern industrial city of Khulna said
thousands of families were stranded at train and ferry terminals
because of the blockade.

Railway sources said blockade enforcers pulled up tracks at
several places outside Dhaka and pelted stones at trains trying
to move.

Almost all opposition members resigned from parliament on Dec.
28 in support of their demands. Khaleda responded by announcing
the next day that she was prepared to step down 30 days ahead of
elections scheduled in 1996.

Opposition turned down her offer, saying it was too little too
late.