Tuesday, Aug 24, 2004
Bangladesh parties vow to fight Islamist militants
By Haroon Habib
DHAKA, AUG. 23. As shock and anger continue to prevail in Bangladesh two days after the brutal grenade attack on the Opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina's rally on Saturday, killing 19 persons and injuring over 300, the country's secular political parties have chalked out a nation-wide plan to fight the rise of Islamist militants.
As part of the plan, the parties have given the call for observing a nation-wide dawn-to-dusk hartal for two days beginning Tuesday, to kick off a "greater movement".
The ultimate objective of the programme, they explained, was to force the BNP-Jamaat alliance Government to step down and to resist the Islamists whose activities have already caused national concern.
Violence feared
Meanwhile, Opposition student organisations began enforcing a strike in all educational institutions in the country for an indefinite period.
The two-day hartal was called by the main Opposition Awami League, the 11-party Left alliance and the Jatiya Smajtantrik Dal to kick off their movement against the backdrop of the violence that rocked many parts of the country following the killings at the rally.
The combined Opposition, except for H. M. Ershad's Jatiya Party, has decided to formulate a plan of action to be adopted after the hartal. Political observers believe that the movement might cause widespread violence as the Government, already under siege, might adopt a tough line towards the protesters.
World leaders' concern
The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, phoned Ms Hasina, and expressed his concern over the murderous attack on her rally. The Prime Minister of Turkey, Nek Metin Erbaken, the president of the Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition, L. K. Advani, and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Christina Rocca, also phoned Ms Hasina.
Copyright © 2004, The Hindu.