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India Today | India 

Bangladesh political rallies sparked clashes as election tensions rose resulting in the death of a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) activist and a policeman and left many others injured on Saturday, Dhaka Tribune reported.

Bangladesh’s major political parties BNP and Awami League held protests with scattered violence ahead of expected elections in January 2024.

A police constable was killed in a clash with supporters of the BNP in the Fakirapool area. The dead police personnel has been identified as Aminul Parvez, a constable of DMP’s CTTC unit, according to a Dhaka Tribune report.

The dead has been identified as Shamim Mollah, president of ward-7 Mugda Thana Jubo Dal. BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said that Shamim was injured in police firing. According to the BNP leader, he was taken to the Central Police Hospital in critical condition, where the doctors pronounced him dead.

Meanwhile, police said Shamim Mollah died of a heart attack. Central Police Hospital Director Deputy Inspector General of Police Rezaul Haider said that there was no sign of injury on his body. He is believed to have died of a heart attack, according to a Dhaka Tribune report.

“In the afternoon when chase and counter chase was taking place between police and BNP men in front of the hospital, the man was passing through the road in front of the hospital. At one stage, he fell unconscious on the road,” Rezaul said.

He added, “After the situation calmed down, some people rescued him from there and brought him to the hospital. Then the doctor on duty declared him dead.”

Opposition party supporters were demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the transfer of power to a non-partisan caretaker government to oversee general elections next year. The protesters demanded that a free and fair vote under a neutral government should be allowed.

The BNP had organised its rally in front of its headquarters to demand for elections under a non-partisan interim government. Meanwhile, the Awami League held its “peace and development rally” at Baitul Mukarram’s south gate to counter the BNP’s.

Since morning, BNP leaders and activists started thronging the rally venue and shouted anti-government slogans. The entire road between the Kakrail intersection to Notre Dame College in Arambagh was packed with party activists and supporters.

Tensions flared up around 11:30 am (local time) when the ruling party activists on two pickups and a bus were stopped by BNP activists near Kakrail mosque, The Daily Star reported. The activists of Awami League were heading towards the Baitul Mukarram mosque to attend their rally, according to police and witnesses.

Clashes erupted after the BNP activists vandalised the pickups and the bus. Police present at the spot detained one man involved in vandalism, they said. After the clash, more BNP activists rushed to the spot and were seen intercepting pedestrians. Dozens of people, including law enforcers, BNP activists and journalists were injured in the clashes.

At least 10 vehicles and a police box were torched and over a dozen vehicles were vandalised during the clashes that took place in Kakrail, Nayapaltan, Bijoynagar, Malibagh, Arambagh areas and near Matsya Bhaban, according to The Daily Star report.

Law enforcers fired teargas shells, threw sound grenades and used firearms to disperse the BNP leaders and activists who had gathered at Nayapaltan and nearby areas since morning, according to The Daily Star report. Later at night, three more vehicles were torched by arsonists in the Kalshi area of Dhaka city, Hemayetpur in Savar, and Konabari in Gazipur, according to police.

India’s abstention from voting on a United Nations resolution calling for a truce in Gaza is “shocking” and shows that the country is shaping its foreign policy as “a subordinate ally of US imperialism”, the CPI and the CPI(M) said in a joint statement on Saturday.

In a separate statement, the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) also condemned the stand taken by India in the matter.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) will also stage a protest at its A K G Bhavan office in Delhi on Sunday to express solidarity with Palestine.

In the joint statement titled “Stop this Genocidal Aggression in Gaza”, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and his CPI counterpart, D Raja, said India’s move negates its longstanding support to the Palestinian cause.

“It is shocking that India abstained on a resolution overwhelmingly adopted by the UN General Assembly calling for a humanitarian truce titled ‘Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations’ in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza,” they said.

“India’s abstention on a resolution that was overwhelmingly adopted shows the extent to which Indian foreign policy is being shaped by being a subordinate ally of US imperialism and the (Narendra) Modi government’s actions for consolidating the US-Israel-India nexus. This negates India’s longstanding support to the Palestinian cause,” they said.

The two Left parties said as the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the resolution, Israel stepped up its “genocidal air and ground attacks in the Gaza strip”.

It also cut off all communications in Gaza, which is home to around 2.2 million (22 lakh) Palestinians, they said and called for an immediate ceasefire.

“Respecting the overwhelming mandate of the UN General Assembly that there must be an immediate ceasefire. The United Nations must re-energise itself to implement the mandate of the Security Council for a two-State solution with pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine,” the parties said.

In its statement, the AIFB said: “India’s abstention from supporting the resolution is indicative of deviation from India’s stated policy on Palestine and excessive US servitude.” “Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi openly supported Israeli military operations, which was completely contrary to the positions that India has upheld till yesterday. India’s foreign policy has historically supported the Palestinian cause, which began with India voting against the United Nations resolution to create the state of Israel in 1947,” it said.

The AIFB extended support and solidarity to the people of Palestine and demanded an immediate end to Israel’s military operations that have cost thousands of lives, including those of women and children. They also demanded the release of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in violation of international norms.

“The Forward Bloc also demands an immediate end to all intrusions by the United States and its allies in the region, making the United Nations irrelevant,” it added.

The CPI-M’s decision to stage the protest on Sunday was taken in an ongoing session of its Central Committee. The three-day meeting that started on Friday is scheduled to conclude on Sunday.

Members of the party’s Central Committee and politburo will take part in the protest.

The 193 members of the UNGA, which met in a resumed 10th Emergency Special Session, voted on the draft resolution submitted by Jordan and co-sponsored by more than 40 countries, including Bangladesh, the Maldives, Pakistan, Russia and South Africa.

The resolution was adopted with 120 countries voting in its favour, 14 against it and 45 abstaining. Besides India, the countries that abstained from voting included Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.