North East
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Tensions were high in the capital on Tuesday when security personnel invaded the opposition BNP headquarters...
Digital Desk: Nearly 100,000 supporters of Bangladesh's major opposition party poured on Dhaka on Saturday to protest Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government and demand fresh elections.
"Sheikh Hasina is a vote thief," they screamed as the gathering overflowed into the streets around the Golapbagh sports complex where the protest was place.
At the occasion, all seven opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) MPs announced their resignations from parliament, leaving the legislature basically a rubber stamp – Hasina's party already had a two-thirds majority.
Concerns about Bangladesh's political environment have been raised by Western nations and the UN.
Although it features one of the fastest expanding economies in Asia, the war in the Ukraine has prompted the government to halt the importation of gas and diesel, and in recent months, power outages and fuel price increases have led to the protests.
The price of importing food has increased due to the Bangladeshi taka's up to 25% depreciation, which has a negative impact on the poor and lower middle class.
Russel Miah, an autorickshaw driver, attended the protest to voice his concern about the rising cost of food and other necessities, which he claimed made it difficult for him to feed his family three times a day.
By mid-morning, according to a BNP spokesman, hundreds of thousands of people had joined the march.
In order to organise a free and fair election, "our main demand is that Sheikh Hasina quit and that parliament be dissolved," said spokesman Zahiruddin Swapan to AFP.
Under the condition of anonymity, a senior security guard pegged the crowd's size at 80,000 individuals or more.
According to Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Faruq Ahmed, there hasn't been any violence thus far, but SWAT forces, counterterrorism units, and canine squads are ready to go.
After security forces raided the BNP offices on Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring dozens more, tensions were high in the city.
Two of the party's top leaders were added to the 2,000 activists and sympathisers who the party claimed had been held since November 30 in an effort to thwart the march. They were all arrested on Friday on suspicion of instigating the violence.
In response to the opposition's calls for her resignation and elections held under a custodian government, Hasina has vehemently rejected their demands.
On the roadways entering Dhaka, police set up roadblocks, and the enormous city of 20 million people experienced tight security on Saturday. Up to 3,000 police officers, according to another police officer, were stationed outside the rally site to maintain security.
The normally clogged roadways of Dhaka saw only a few cycle rickshaws and cars, and BNP officials accused the government of instigating an unofficial transit strike in an effort to keep people from attending the demonstration.
A merchant named Mohammad Alamgir, who came to the protest from the southern island of Bhola, said: "No political party has my support. We seek to be released from the present circumstance."
The top Bengali daily newspaper in the nation, Prothom Alo, reported that student cadres from the ruling party thrashed at least 10 BNP supporters before searching them for cell phones and turning them over to police.
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