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Police thwart Rampal protests with teargas, rubber bullet

BanglaBhoot

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The eight-hour general strike enforced by the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports to press home their 7-point demand, including scrapping coal-based Rampal power plant near the Sunderbans, ended Thursday afternoon in Dhaka amid scattered clashes between police and strike supporters.

Police fired rubber bullets, teargas shells and sprayed water from water cannon to disperse the supporters who gathered at Shahbagh on Thursday morning. Pro-hartal supporters also pelted brickbats at police and held rally later protesting the police attack.

A large number of law enforcers were deployed in the area.

The pro-hartal activists took position on the university campus from 6:00am to 2:00pm.

Meanwhile, central leaders of the national committee blocked road in Paltan area around 10:15am in support of the shutdown which started at 6:00am .

Later, a rally was held in front of the National Press Club where Anu Muhammad, member secretary of the national committee, declared countrywide rally on January 28 protesting the police attack on strike supporters. The rally in Dhaka will be held in front of the Press Club on that day, he said.

Besides, the committee will hold another programme of taking position on the streets across the country on February 25, Anu Muhammad said.

A grand rally will be held on March 11 in Khulna city where people from coastal districts will participate, he added.

Leaders including Khalequzzaman, Kazi Zafar Ahmed, Jonayed Saki, Tipu Biswas, Mosharaf Hossain Nannu, Mushrefa Mishu, among others, were present at the rally.

The strike supporters brought out processions in the morning and marched city streets.

The national committee enforced the general strike as it fears that if Rampal plant is implemented, the Sunderbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest and a World Heritage site, would be destroyed and about 35 lakh people dependent on the mangrove forest, would lose their earning sources.

They said many would become environmental refugees and that nearly five crore people would be exposed to natural calamities.

The convener of the committee, engineer Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah and its member secretary, Anu Muhammad in a statement on the eve of the hartal, urged the city dwellers to lend their supports to the hartal by keeping their establishments shut and motorised vehicles off the roads.

http://www.newagebd.net/article/7852/police-thwart-rampal-protests-with-teargas-rubber-bullet
 
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Good work. These hartals are nothing but an attempt to destabilize the country.

In normal times no one gives a rats *** about Sundarbans. Poachers kill animals cut down trees there and no one cares. And suddenly govt tries to build a power plant 14 km away and everyone is like Sunderban is getting destroyed. Hypocrisy.
 
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I care about the Sundarbans - but I wish these communists would bitch about the rivers around Dhaka not dying, but being DEAD. Remind me how many million people live in Dhaka - what are we breathing, drinking, eating?

quick video on the state of these rivers -


Any hartals for that? No chance. In fact, if the govt had decided to go with China as Rampal partner as opposed to India - none of these protests would be happening.

Let's not forget we had experts and agencies worried about what the Padma Bridge would do to Hilsha numbers - Hilsha ffs

Having said all that - people like Anu and Junayed Saki are nobodies - police should have handled the hartal without going in with rubber bullets. Ask anyone in Dhaka - traffic was normal everywhere except for Shahbagh (the picketers successfully blocked that area off)...
 
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Agree with Russell here. Good post.

Disgusting stuff the rivers in Dhk but no on protesting while it's effecting human health. But one project to be built for the betterment future, then there appears major concerns. I'm sure AL gov has good interest for Sundarbans it's a pride of the land, unnesco heritage site. But I believe in taking a small lose (if there is one) for a bigger betterment, for future.
 
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I care about the Sundarbans - but I wish these communists would bitch about the rivers around Dhaka not dying, but being DEAD. Remind me how many million people live in Dhaka - what are we breathing, drinking, eating?

quick video on the state of these rivers -


Any hartals for that? No chance. In fact, if the govt had decided to go with China as Rampal partner as opposed to India - none of these protests would be happening.

Let's not forget we had experts and agencies worried about what the Padma Bridge would do to Hilsha numbers - Hilsha ffs

Having said all that - people like Anu and Junayed Saki are nobodies - police should have handled the hartal without going in with rubber bullets. Ask anyone in Dhaka - traffic was normal everywhere except for Shahbagh (the picketers successfully blocked that area off)...


Environmental or Green folks do not give a flying f about the lives of the people if they are not from the Amazon or the Sunderbons !!!

Tough luck !
 
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I am against the plant but hippie bit downs are funny :lol:
 
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There is hardly any way the government could back off from this project. According to the agreement, if the project gets canceled, Bangladesh has to pay 100% of a hefty compensation to BHEL, the main contractor for the power plant, even though it's a 50:50 joint venture between Bangladesh and India.

Well, everything boils down to the illegitimacy of the government. It's not about AL/BNP or pro-India/anti-India. The fact is when a government lacks the public mandate, it has to rely on external forces, which makes it weaker in such bilateral negotiations. That's exactly what we are seeing here...

I'm, however, surprised at India's policies here. Okay, you need it to counter Chinese investments in the Bangladeshi power plants but you are ignoring the growing amount of anti-Indian sentiments among the masses with these protests. A country that aspires to be a global power can't really be concentrated on short term goals ignoring the long term consequences...

I care about the Sundarbans - but I wish these communists would bitch about the rivers around Dhaka not dying, but being DEAD. Remind me how many million people live in Dhaka - what are we breathing, drinking, eating?

quick video on the state of these rivers -


Any hartals for that? No chance. In fact, if the govt had decided to go with China as Rampal partner as opposed to India - none of these protests would be happening.

Let's not forget we had experts and agencies worried about what the Padma Bridge would do to Hilsha numbers - Hilsha ffs

Having said all that - people like Anu and Junayed Saki are nobodies - police should have handled the hartal without going in with rubber bullets. Ask anyone in Dhaka - traffic was normal everywhere except for Shahbagh (the picketers successfully blocked that area off)...

Those rivers are mainly polluted by the tanneries in Hazaribagh. There have been extensive reports on this issue not only in Bangladeshi but also the global media. Eventually, the EU forced the government to build a leather industrial zone at Savar. The last time I checked, the tanneries are being shifted gradually...
 
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