Bangladesh: 2 killed as violence continues ahead of elections, five voting centres set on fire

At least two people have been killed in clashes between pro-and anti-government supporters across Bangladesh, as five voting centres were set on fire amid the opposition's nonstop blockade two days before the elections.

Police said a driver and a trader were killed and three others injured when suspected activists of main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami hurled petrol bombs on an onion-laden truck at northwestern Hakimpur of Dinajpur district overnight.

"The driver apparently lost control over the wheels as the truck caught fire...it overturned and fell into a roadside ditch," a police officer said, adding that the driver and the trader were burnt to death. In the capital Dhaka, police said at least three persons, including a woman, sustained severe burn injuries when miscreants hurled a petrol bomb on a bus at Paribagh area this morning as the opposition's nationwide non-stop blockade on roads, railway tracks and waterways continued.

Witnesses said several youths hurled a petrol bomb which landed at the front side of the bus, critically injuring the driver and two passengers who were immediately rushed to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Doctors at the unit said the wounds of the 40-year-old woman appeared critical as 64 per cent of her body was burned.

Meanwhile, five makeshift voting centres housed at four schools were set on fire at Daganbhuiyan area of northwestern Feni, the hometown of BNP chief Khaleda Zia. All the five education institutions were supposed to be used as polling centres during the 10th national elections on Sunday. Election commission officials said security vigil was intensified at identified trouble-prone areas following the acts of sabotages.

The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance has been demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation and scrapping of the polls. The BNP has refused to field candidates, saying elections under Hasina will be rigged - an accusation the premier strongly rejects. Election in 147 constituencies out of the total 300 will be held on Sunday.

Candidates in 153 other parliamentary seats have been elected uncontested as the opposition is boycotting the elections. The opposition has enforced a non-stop blockade from January 1 to foil the polls. They have dismissed the elections as 'farce'.

The ruling Awami League has turned down the opposition demand, calling it "unconstitutional" while international community's efforts and a UN initiated talks between the two parties last month also failed to end the deadlock. Accusing opposition leader Zia of taking the country hostage, Hasina on Thursday ruled out cancellation of Sunday polls and asked the people to actively participate in elections to uphold democracy.

The premier, however, earlier hinted that the 10th parliament to be installed after the elections could be short-lived to pave ways for the 11th general election after talks with BNP if it cut off ties with Jamaat, which was opposed to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan.

The fresh incidents of violence coincides with some newspapers reports and analyses that after months of violent protests, the opposition visibly lost its strength to carryout street campaigns further. The reports also said Jamaat loosened its ties with BNP for its silence in protecting Islamist leaders from 1971 war crimes trial as the main opposition party remained silent over the execution of Jamaat stalwart Abdul Quader Mollah.

Meanwhile, at a press conference last night BNP alleged that the government was pushing the country towards a "civil war" by staging elections without voters. "There is still time to stop the farcical elections of January 5 and take steps for a dialogue for participatory elections," Zia's advisory council member Osman Farruk said.

Referring to a report published in Foreign Policy magazine, Farruk said that Bangladesh had been included in the list of 10 countries which could create instability. He said that the magazine had said that Bangladesh reached the doorstep of a civil war.