Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s rivals disrupted her Awami League party’s plan to hold a rally in Bangladesh’s capital on Sunday, according to AP News.
The first rally in Dhaka was held to commemorate the death of a party activist on 10 November 1987, which sparked a massive protest against former leader H.M. Ershad. He was eventually removed from office, ending his nine-year rule in 1990. The day has been celebrated as Democracy Day ever since.
On Sunday, activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Hasina’s main rival, as well as members of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, took to the streets of Dhaka, filling much of the area where the rally was to be held. Protesters said they believed Hasina’s party was trying to make a comeback by holding a rally on the streets on Sunday.
Tensions remained high throughout Sunday. The anti-Hasina protesters declared that they would not allow the party to hold a public rally under any circumstances. However, the Awami League said it was against the spirit of democracy and the constitutional right to assemble.
Political chaos continues in the South Asian state as Zia’s party seeks swift reforms and new elections from the interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus. The party believes it can form a new government in Hasina’s party’s absence, whereas its other allies are also struggling.
As the interim government completes its three-month stay in power, people remain concerned about high commodity prices, public order and the rise of Islamist forces. The Yunus-led government announced it would seek the extradition of Hasina and her close associates as they faced charges of crimes against humanity over the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the uprising.
