VZCZCXRO4865
RR RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #3389/01 1621609
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111609Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8544
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1154
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 9142
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 8568
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7467
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 003389 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE, SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BG
SUBJECT: CLASHES MARK OPPOSITION'S DHAKA SIEGE PROGRAM 
 
 
1.(SBU)  Summary: Despite a June 10 High Court ban, the AL- 
led 14-party alliances held it's "Siege to Dhaka" program on 
June 11 demanding electoral reforms and resignation of the 
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).  Clashes between police 
and demonstrators occurred in and around Dhaka resulting in 
injury to scores of demonstrators and police personnel, 
damage to vehicles, a halt to traffic movement to and from 
the capital city and thinner traffic within the city. 
Government leaders have described the opposition action as 
"anarchic" and "illegal."  The 14-party alliance leaders are 
expected to review the situation and announce their next 
course of agitation in the evening. End Summary 
 
¶2. (SBU) On June 11, leaders of the 14-party alliance led 
demonstrations to block four major highways leading to the 
capital and at a number of spots within the city.  Police 
and paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) charged 
demonstrator with batons, and fired rubber bullets, teargas 
canisters and blank shots to clear the highways of the 
demonstrators, who threw stones and brickbats at the law 
enforcers. The violence halted traffic on all major highways 
into Dhaka for a few hours starting at 9 A.M. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The opposition demonstration drew the largest crowd 
at Kanchpur bridge point in Narayanganj district, about 15 
kilometers southeast from Dhaka on the Dhaka-Chittagong 
highway. AL Organizing Secretary Akhtaruzzaman told the 
Embassy that about 2000 activists gathered at this point for 
"peaceful demonstration" on the highway for a few hours. 
When the police attempted to move them away using batons and 
teargas shells, the demonstrators resisted, throwing stones 
at the police and the BDR, which forced the security forces 
to retreat. Akhtaruzzaman said the crowd at this spot 
swelled to between 20,000 and 25,000 by noon as curious 
people joined the "festival"; however, other sources 
estimate no more than 10,000  Former AL legislator and army 
chief Major General (Retired) K.M. Shafiullah was hurt on 
his nose at this spot. It was not clear whether a stone 
thrown by a demonstrator or a police baton caused the 
injury. A number of other demonstrators and police received 
injuries. At 1:45 P.M., police reinforcements regained 
control and helped restore traffic movement. A press 
reporter said police admitted firing bullets in the sky to 
scare away the demonstrators. 
 
4.(SBU) At Tongi, about 20 kilometers north from Dhaka, AL 
legislator Zahid Ahsan Russell and Tongi municipal chairman 
Azmatullah were among the 1,000 demonstrators hurt in police 
action. At Savar, northwest of Dhaka, former Home Minister 
Mohammad Nasim MP and former State Minister for Information, 
Abu Sayeed, were among AL leaders hurt in police action on 
demonstrators.  AL leader Abdur Razzaq MP and Tofail Ahmed 
led the demonstration at Maowa ferry station, 38 kilometers 
south from Dhaka, halting traffic movement to and from the 
southern districts.  At the Gabtali bus terminal near 
Mirpur, in the northwest of Dhaka, another procession led by 
former AL MP Kamal Ahmed Majumder clashed with police in the 
morning. 
 
Sporadic Clashes in Dhaka 
------------------------- 
 
5.(SBU) In central Dhaka, Opposition Chief Whip Abdus 
Shahid, AL legislators Shahjahan Khan, Dr. Abdur Razzak and 
Panchanon Biswas led a demonstration at Russell Square in 
the upscale Dhanmondi neighborhood. Shahid told the Embassy 
that police swooped on the demonstrators unprovoked and hurt 
the MPs and even women activists. A number of policemen were 
injured by stones thrown by demonstrators. Police and 
demonstrators also clashed in Maghbazar, Nawabpur in old 
Dhaka, and in Mirpur. According to media reports, some 
demonstrators uprooted railway tracks in Khilgaon/Goran area 
causing disruption to the movement of trains. 
 
High Court Ban Ignored 
---------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) A High Court judge on June 10 imposed a temporary 
injunction on the "Siege to Dhaka" on a petition from 
Advocate Rabiul Islam of a little known political party 
called the Muslim Millat Party.  Islam's lawyer claimed that 
the "siege" is an infringement on the citizens' right to 
movement.  Opposition leaders defied the injunction saying 
that they did not "officially" know about it as June 10 was 
a holiday and, moreover, they would not abide by the court 
ban as there were instances of the government not honoring 
court rulings. The hearing of the petition at a regular 
bench on June 11 could not take place as the pro-AL Supreme 
Court Bar Association leaders called for court boycott to 
 
DHAKA 00003389  002 OF 002 
 
 
protest the ban on "Siege to Dhaka" and blocked the court 
gates to prevent lawyers and judges from entering the court 
premises. 
 
AL Ponders Its Next Move 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) AL Joint General Secretary Mukul Bose told the 
Embassy that the 14-party alliance leaders would decide the 
next course of action at a meeting the evening of June 11. 
Asked if AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil's earlier 
announcement that the alliance would observe a two-day non- 
stop general strike starting June 12, Bose said the response 
of the people to the "siege" didn't warrant a strike. There 
were no big incidents that would justify calling a non-stop 
strike, he said, adding that there may be two days of 
strikes lasting 12-hours. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Despite two postponements, the AL was unable to 
generate anything approaching the popular support promised 
in their pre-siege rhetoric.  Although the AL will publicly 
trumpet today's turnout and pillory the BDG for excessive 
force, privately they may finally be forced to acknowledge 
vanishing public support for hartals and street 
demonstrations.  For now, however, it appears to be their 
only strategy for challenging the BDG.