Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DHAKA3940
2006-07-03 11:09:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dhaka
Cable title:  

TWO DEAD AS OPPOSITION TRANSPORTATION BLOCKADE

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC CASC BG 
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VZCZCXRO7736
RR RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #3940 1841109
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 031109Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9226
INFO RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7497
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 8600
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1187
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1485
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 9194
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 003940 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC CASC BG
SUBJECT: TWO DEAD AS OPPOSITION TRANSPORTATION BLOCKADE
TURNS VIOLENT

Classified By: Acting P/E Counselor David Renz; reason 1.4(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 003940

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC CASC BG
SUBJECT: TWO DEAD AS OPPOSITION TRANSPORTATION BLOCKADE
TURNS VIOLENT

Classified By: Acting P/E Counselor David Renz; reason 1.4(d)


1. (U) SUMMARY. On July 2 the Awami League (AL)-led
transportation blockade of the country turned violent. Both
an opposition activist and a policeman died during the
protests, while over 100 people were injured. The AL and its
opposition coalition partners announced a dawn-to-dusk hartal
for July 4 to protest the death of the activist, blaming
police for his death. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) The AL-led 14-Party Alliance enforced a total blockade
of the country's highways, railways, and waterways on July 2
from 9 AM to 3 PM to press their demands for electoral and
caretaker government reforms. In Dhaka, protests were
organized at 18 key locations within and surrounding the city
to enforce the blockade. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police
deployed around 10,000 officers in the city to handle
potential problems.


3. (U) Clashes between police and demonstrators broke out in
various parts of Dhaka and in several other locations
throughout the country during the six-hour blockade.
Demonstrators damaged or destroyed dozens of vehicles that
were violating the blockade. In addition, protestors blocked
several trains that were servicing Dhaka and other cities.


4. (U) About mid-morning, a 45-year old AL activist collapsed
and later died. Allegations quickly spread that he died
after police used batons and tear gas to disperse a crowd of
protestors in the Mohakhali area of Dhaka. A journalist told
us that the activist was killed after "a tear gas shell
exploded on his head." Police, however, told us that the man
had died of cardiac arrest. One embassy source generally
critical of the BNP later corroborated the police version,
based on secondary reports. The body was brought to the
Dhaka Medical College morgue for an autopsy, and later
returned to his family for burial on July 3.


5. (U) A police sub-inspector was killed in a separate
incident in Narayanganj south of Dhaka. The officer was
reportedly struck in the head by a rock thrown by protestors
who were blocking the main Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Police
and demonstrators had been fighting all morning for control
of that stretch of highway, and protestors had attacked and
torched several vehicles that were attempting to use the road.


6. (U) Later that evening the opposition coalition announced
a dawn-to-dusk hartal for July 4 to protest the killing of
the AL protestor at Mohakhali. AL leader Sheikh Hasina
condemned the killing of the protestor during a press
conference. She also claimed that BNP-hired thugs, rather
than AL protestors, had killed the police officer. In light
of yesterday's violence, police are predicting similar
violence for tomorrow's hartal.


7. (C) Kazi Zafarullah, one of Sheikh Hasina's closest
advisors and a member of the AL Presidium, complained to us
about the "brutality" of the police during the protest,
claiming that he himself had been hit by police at one point.
He said that he could not understand the violent response of
the police that led to the death of the protestor. When
reminded that a police officer also died he told us that
"when the police kill our people, (our people) can't be held
responsible for their reactions."


8. (C) COMMENT. This violence is only the beginning of what
is likely to become a very rough pre-election campaign. The
AL believes that, like in 1996, it needs to demonstrate
control of the streets in order to win the elections.
However, the AL needs to be careful not to overplay its hand.
At least in the cities, where protest actions are most
disruptive, the public is growing increasingly frustrated
with the confrontational tactics of both parties. The BNP,
while it cannot risk ceding control of the streets to the AL,
also cannot appear to be using excessive force to foil the
protests. Both sides have an incentive to provoke the other
side to violence, and both want to appear the victim of the
other's excesses. Sadly, both parties view the loss of life
simply as the cost of playing the political game in
Bangladesh. END COMMENT.
BUTENIS