Thousands of security personnel patrolled Bangladesh’s capital on Sunday as opposition parties began a nationwide transport blockade to try and force electoral reform ahead of polls this month.
Dhaka’s usually bustling streets were empty of cars and buses on Sunday, a working day in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, and schools and colleges were shut.
Opposition supporters packed key intersections to support the three-day blockade.
Security has been intensified across the country, with 13 000 police officers guarding important streets and locations in the capital Dhaka alone, police inspector Abdus Sobhan said.
There were no reports of violence, he added.
The army was deployed in the critical south-eastern port city of Chittagong to shield cargo shipments.
“We have kept the army on high alert and they are patrolling highways outside the Chittagong port,” port chairperson Musleh Uddin said.
“Inside the port, ships are being unloaded. But we could not transport any goods outside the port,” he said.
The opposition has called a nationwide transport blockade for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday unless the interim government agrees to reforms.
The opposition says the changes it wants, such as the appointment of new election-commission officials, are crucial for free and fair elections.
“The whole country will be shut down if the government does not stop farcical polls on January 22 and announce a fresh one after carrying out necessary reforms,” opposition spokesperson Abdul Jalil said.
The opposition has repeatedly staged crippling protests and blockades in the past year to highlight demands for electoral reform.
It says it is trying to ensure polls are not skewed in favour of the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
At least 35 people have been killed in unrest in the impoverished South Asian nation of 144-million people since the BNP-led government handed power to an interim administration at the end of October. — AFP