Weeks of mounting political tension have erupted into protests and bloodshed in Bangladesh, leaving the country on edge ahead of general elections due in January.
Several senior opposition leaders were arrested last Sunday, a day after a massive rally against the government turned violent, resulting in the deaths of at least two opposition supporters.
The rejuvenated main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has intensified protests calling on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.
The BNP and its allies want a neutral interim government ahead of the general elections, arguing that free and fair polls are not possible under Ms Hasina. The government led by her Awami League has rejected this demand.
The BNP rally in the capital Dhaka attracted tens of thousands of people - one of the biggest gatherings seen there in a decade.
But things soon turned violent.
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas while opposition supporters threw stones and bricks. Some roads in the capital were strewn with exploded sound grenades, tear gas shells and broken glass.
Both sides accuse each other of starting the violence.
Happening at the same time in Bangladesh Striking Bangladesh garment workers clash with police as factories reopen
Striking Bangladesh garment workers clashed with police on Saturday near the capital as factories reopened in defiance of a protest campaign demanding a near-tripling of wages.
Bangladesh’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 percent of the South Asian country’s $55 billion annual exports, supplying many of the world’s top names in fashion including Levi’s, Zara and H&M.
But conditions are dire for many of the sector’s four million workers, the vast majority of whom are women whose monthly wages start at 8,300 taka ($75).
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Weeks of mounting political tension have erupted into protests and bloodshed in Bangladesh, leaving the country on edge ahead of general elections due in January.
“The opposition supporters attacked police, journalists, hospitals, ambulances and the houses of the chief justice and other judges, creating chaos,” Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told the BBC.
But in recent years the political divide has been widening and the bitterness growing, with the Awami League midway through a second decade in office and seeking a fourth straight five-year term.
The political unrest ahead of the election is happening at a time when the country is facing economic hardship, with most voters struggling to cope with the escalating cost of living, especially rising food prices.
That’s why hundreds of thousands of people are joining our rallies despite attempts by the Awami League to stop them by cancelling transport, carrying out arrests and intimidation," Mr Chowdhury told the BBC.
“The intensified crackdown on opposition party leaders and protesters over the weekend signals an attempt at a complete clampdown of dissent in Bangladesh ahead of the general elections in January,” Amnesty International said.
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