BANGLADESH: SECURITY FORCES BREAK UP GOVERNMENT PROTEST RALLY скачать в хорошем качестве

BANGLADESH: SECURITY FORCES BREAK UP GOVERNMENT PROTEST RALLY

(24 Mar 1996) Natural Sound Security forces in Bangladesh have fired tear gas to disperse a crowd staging a sit-down protest against the government of President Zia. The impromptu sit-in was called for by Dhaka's mayor and a leader of the largest opposition party, the Awami League, at a rally on Saturday. Witnesses said several hundred police and paramilitary troops fired tear gas, attacking about two-thousand protestors, minutes after the mayor left for morning prayers on Sunday. Saturday's rally against the Bangladeshi government pulled a vast crowd. The protest was organised by Dhaka's Mayor, Mohammad Hanif, and demanded the overturning of the February 15th election results and the resignation of the government. Demonstrators also called for fresh polls under a non-partisan neutral caretaker government. For two years, opposition parties have held strikes nearly every day to try to oust Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from office. They allege her government is inept and corrupt. On March the ninth, the parties began an indefinite strike aimed at paralysing life in the country of 120 (m) million people. And this week, the government deployed more than 25-thousand troops to restore transport links between the capital and the second-largest city - the southeastern port of Chittagong. But they have had little success in the face of attempts by opposition activists at blocking ports, traffic and the movement of trains. The crowd cheered as Sheikh Hasina - the main guest of the rally and President of the main opposition party, the Awami League - took the stage. She urged government employees, members of the armed forces, the police and others not to cooperate with the government. And she warned Khaleda Zia not to try to suppress the people by force, saying she, like her father, was prepared to sacrifice her life to establish rights for the people of Bangladesh. Mohammed Hanif, the city's mayor, also drew cheers from the crowd. He asserted his sole authority as mayor to run Dhaka, saying various departments should work according to his orders from now on. He also spontaneously declared a sit-in demonstration until the government accepted the protestors' demands. However, police used tear gas against two-thousand diehard protestors at dawn minutes after the mayor left for morning prayers. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...