Frederick Douglass

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them..." Frederick Douglass

Sunday, June 12, 2011

The General Strike In Bangladesh

The opposition has called a general strike because the incumbent party is attempting to change electoral law in its favor. Nobody is reported injured, but vehicles have been set ablaze. In response, the government has jailed scores in summary justice proceedings.

The police in Dhaka, the capital, also detained two former ministers from BNP on charges of picketing in the street. Ten mobile courts were in operation Sunday, and the courts jailed 58 people, mostly opposition activists, on picketing charges for varying terms from a month to three months.

Fifty-two more people were handed similar penalties on the eve of the strike on Saturday.


http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/06/12/bangladesh.strike.arrests/



The government has called out their paramilitary.

Police said 9,000 policemen and 3,000 paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were deployed in Dhaka after five vehicles, including three buses, were torched on Saturday, creating widespread panic.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/241891/scores-jailed-as-strike-hits-bangladesh