Opposition warns of bloodshed in Bangladesh polls

Opposition warns of bloodshed in Bangladesh polls

DHAKA (Agencies): Local elections in Bangladesh involving 50 million voters could end in bloodshed, Khaleda Zia, leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has warned, reports said yesterday.

"It seems that there will be lot of killings and armed violence during Union Parishad (lowest tier of administration) elections" scheduled for December, she told the Independent newspaper.

She alleged the government had "unleashed a reign of terror against her party workers ... the breakdown in law and order is really terrible."

The BNP claims 200 of its workers have been killed and several thousand jailed.

The ruling Awami League government retorted saying a large number of their workers had been killed by BNP and those arrested were "identified terrorists".

Although the polls are held on a non-party basis, most candidates are backed by different political parties which hope to win a say in the lowest tier of administration which has implications for national elections.

The BNP has yet to decide on its participation, but the one in 1986 under former president Hussain Muhammad Ershad was officially boycotted by the opposition.

The 1986 polls saw widespread violence, while the 1991 elections witnessed unrest violence on a smaller scale. Chief election commissioner Mohammad Abu Hena held talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last week on ways of ensuring violence free and neutral elections.

Home ministry sources said there would be a massive roundup of people identified as trouble makers by the government. Tight security measures are also planned.

Separately, the government said yesterday it prevented the brother of Bangladesh's main opposition leader from traveling to Britain because he posed a threat to Prime Minister Hasina.

Syed Iskander, a retired major and the only brother of former Khaleda Zia, was taken off the plane Sunday as it was about to take off for London. The prime minister leaves for Britain today for the Commonwealth summit.

He was detained, but released after one hour of questioning, police said. The Home Ministry, which is in charge of police, said its investigation was continuing.

Iskander said he was going to London for medical treatment. "This is an intolerable harassment," he told reporters at his Dhaka home.

In a press statement yesterday, the Home Ministry said Iskander was barred from the trip because he "is a threat to the security" of Hasina.

It said Iskander's Britain visit was intended to establish contacts with some fugitive retired army officers facing trial in the 1975 assassination of Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Sheikh Mujib, as he is popularly known, was the country's first president. He was killed in a military coup.

The election commission said yesterday the polls would be held for a month from Dec. 1 with about 50 million voters expected to take part.

The commission said polls would be held in 4,330 out of the total 4,468 Parishads or rural councils. The remaining were yet to complete their tenure.

Each Parishad, elected for a five-year term, will have 13 members and be headed by a chairman. There will be 41,000 polling centers.

In another development, Telecommunications Minister Muhammad Nasim held telephone talks with BNP secretary-general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and opposition chief whip Khandaker Delwar Hossain to urge the BNP to participate when parliament meets again Nov. 2. He invited them to formal talks to end the standoff.