Dhaka, Aug 18: Bangladesh's main opposition leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed today blasted the Islamist-allied government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia for alleged repression of political adversaries and called new anti-Zia protests. "Your days are numbered, the people will not tolerate government repression of the opposition and deterioration of law and order," Sheikh Hasina told her arch rival at a protest rally in Dhaka.
She called for new anti-government protests nationwide including rallies and marches on august 24, and warned that if the government tried to suppress them "we would be forced to enforce general strike and other street actions to dislodge the government through political movement."
Thousands of cheering party activists and supporters turned up for today's rally at Paltan Maidan, although the events were dampened a bit by heavy early afternoon showers. Sheikh Hasina, whose Awami League was in power from 1996 to 2001, alleged that tens of thousands of her party workers and leaders had been jailed or detained on false charges since Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led alliance government came to power in october last year.
"You must stop such political victimisation and free all those who were detained on false charges," she told the government.
The former Prime Minister accused the government of using police to break up her party's mourning day rally on August 15. Bureau Report