Bangladesh Tense After Deadly Riots
Sporadic clashes continued in Bangladesh Friday, killing two more people, as opposition activists against a war-crime tribunal's decision to sentence a popular Islamist preacher to death.
Police said they were forced to fire at protesters in at least 12 districts in clashes, which also injured hundreds of people and forced businesses to shut shop.
The fresh violence comes a day after at least 40 people were killed in pitched battles with police in what are believed to be the deadliest riots since Bangladesh split from Pakistan to become a separate country.
Most of the dead in Thursday's violence were members of the Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party that is part of an opposition alliance headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
This came after the tribunalset up to punish collaborators who helped the Pakistan army during Bangaldesh's struggle for independence in 1971found Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, guilty on eight counts, including murder, arson, rape and religious persecution.
The tribunal ordered that Mr. Sayeedi be hanged, but his lawyers have said they intend to appeal.
Mr. Sayeedi, who is accused of leading an Islamist militia that persecuted local people and helped the Pakistan army, claims he isn't the person named in the charges, and that it's a case of mistaken identity.
Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan in 1971. The Pakistani army fought and lost a brutal nine-month war with Bengali fighters, who were assisted by the Indian military.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians died, many of them at the hands of Islamist militia groups that wanted the country to remain part of Pakistan.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government set up the war crimes tribunal two years ago, promising fair trials.
But human rights groups say the trials fall short of internationally accepted standards of justice, pointing out that all of the three people sentenced by the tribunal so far are from the Jamaat-e-Islami. Among the other seven on trial, five belong to the Jamaat-e-Islami while one is from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The government denies any bias.
The latest violent protests underscore the deep divisions in Bangladesh over the 1971 war. Many middle-class urban residents with secular outlooks back the calls for harsh sentences at the war crimes tribunal, while Islamist parties draw support in rural areas.
Khaleda Zia, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Friday criticized the government for the high death toll in the protests Thursday and Friday. "We can't remain silent spectators at a time when the government has resorted to mass murder. I'm urging the country's people to take to the streets," she said. Ms. Zia called for a countrywide general strike Tuesday in protest against Thursday's violence. This is in addition to a 48-hour strike called by the Jamaat-e-Islami beginning Sunday.But Prime Minister Hasina's Awami League said the opposition was to blame.
"Yesterday they [Jamaat-e-Islami] attacked the police, public establishments," Mohammad Nasim, a senior Awami League leader, told reporters.
Human rights groups have voiced concern at the high number of deaths in clashes with the police.
Sultana Kamal, chairperson of Transparency International Bangladesh, said she condemns both the violent protests and the use of lethal force and calls "on all sides to exercise restraint."Human rights group Odhikar asked the government to avoid the use of disproportionate force and said that human rights would be under serious threat if the government fails to find a political solution to the crisis.
Bangladesh Tense After Deadly Riots - WSJ.com