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Schools and many shops remained closed in the Bangladeshi capital on Monday, and several demonstrations and wildcat strikes were reported from other cities ahead of a two-day general strike called by the opposition Awami League. Police in riot gear are in evidence in Dhaka and other cities, a day after Awami League supporters vented their anger by attacking official buildings, including a railway station where they set fire to a train in protest at what they perceive to be government inaction after Saturday's grenade attack.
Public anger has been fuelled by statements from Awami League officials, including Sheikh Hasina Wajed, who narrowly survived the blast, sustaining only minor injuries. She was quoted as saying the attack was intended to kill her. "It was a well-planned assassination attempt," one of Mrs Hasina's aides told reporters, "because even as she was herded into the vehicle, shots were fired. It was a very well coordinated and well thought-out attack."
Government blamed
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In June, two people died and nearly 100 were wounded in blasts at an Awami League rally at a town northeast of Dhaka. Early this month, a bomb exploded in the northeastern town of Sylhet, killing one person and injuring 30, but leaving the intended target, the town´s Awami League mayor, unhurt.
"The country has become more polarised in recent years with
the rise of Islamic parties in all sections of government,"
Bangladesh journalist Sakil Faizullah commented in an interview
with Radio Netherlands. As a result, suspicion between the current
Islamic-inspired government and the secular Awami League has
deepened.
No conspiracy
Mr Faizullah stresses that the four-way
coalition government led by Khaleda Zia's centre-right
Bangladesh Nationalist Party includes the Jama'at-e-Islami, a
fundamentalist reform movement that seeks to turn the country into
an Islamic state. But, he hastens to add, there is as yet no
evidence to support the Awami League's knee-jerk claims of an
anti-secular conspiracy:
"The Awami League's popularity decreased after the 2001 election, but it's now improving. I think that is why all these attacks are going on mainly targeting the Awami League. But there is no sound proof that Islamic hardliners are directly involved in any of these attacks.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has strongly condemned the blast and vowed a thorough probe. She called for national unity and invited Sheikh Hasina for a meeting to express her sympathy at the blasts.
History of violence
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In 1975, Sheikh Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then president, was assassinated by disgruntled army officers along with 17 others, mostly family members. Sheikh Hasina and her sister, who were out of the country at the time, are the only surviving members of the family.
In 1981, Ziaur Rahman, considered to be one of Bangladesh's most
popular presidents and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's late husband,
was assassinated, also by army officers.
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