VZCZCXRO7736
RR RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #3940 1841109
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 031109Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9226
INFO RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7497
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 8600
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1187
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1485
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 9194
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 003940 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/03/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC CASC BG
SUBJECT: TWO DEAD AS OPPOSITION TRANSPORTATION BLOCKADE 
TURNS VIOLENT 
 
Classified By: Acting P/E Counselor David Renz; reason 1.4(d) 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY. On July 2 the Awami League (AL)-led 
transportation blockade of the country turned violent.  Both 
an opposition activist and a policeman died during the 
protests, while over 100 people were injured.  The AL and its 
opposition coalition partners announced a dawn-to-dusk hartal 
for July 4 to protest the death of the activist, blaming 
police for his death.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) The AL-led 14-Party Alliance enforced a total blockade 
of the country's highways, railways, and waterways on July 2 
from 9 AM to 3 PM to press their demands for electoral and 
caretaker government reforms.  In Dhaka, protests were 
organized at 18 key locations within and surrounding the city 
to enforce the blockade.  The Dhaka Metropolitan Police 
deployed around 10,000 officers in the city to handle 
potential problems. 
 
¶3. (U) Clashes between police and demonstrators broke out in 
various parts of Dhaka and in several other locations 
throughout the country during the six-hour blockade. 
Demonstrators damaged or destroyed dozens of vehicles that 
were violating the blockade. In addition, protestors blocked 
several trains that were servicing Dhaka and other cities. 
 
¶4. (U) About mid-morning, a 45-year old AL activist collapsed 
and later died.  Allegations quickly spread that he died 
after police used batons and tear gas to disperse a crowd of 
protestors in the Mohakhali area of Dhaka.  A journalist told 
us that the activist was killed after "a tear gas shell 
exploded on his head."  Police, however, told us that the man 
had died of cardiac arrest. One embassy source generally 
critical of the BNP later corroborated the police version, 
based on secondary reports.  The body was brought to the 
Dhaka Medical College morgue for an autopsy, and later 
returned to his family for burial on July 3. 
 
¶5. (U) A police sub-inspector was killed in a separate 
incident in Narayanganj south of Dhaka.  The officer was 
reportedly struck in the head by a rock thrown by protestors 
who were blocking the main Dhaka-Chittagong highway.  Police 
and demonstrators had been fighting all morning for control 
of that stretch of highway, and protestors had attacked and 
torched several vehicles that were attempting to use the road. 
 
¶6. (U) Later that evening the opposition coalition announced 
a dawn-to-dusk hartal for July 4 to protest the killing of 
the AL protestor at Mohakhali.  AL leader Sheikh Hasina 
condemned the killing of the protestor during a press 
conference.  She also claimed that BNP-hired thugs, rather 
than AL protestors, had killed the police officer. In light 
of yesterday's violence, police are predicting similar 
violence for tomorrow's hartal. 
 
¶7. (C) Kazi Zafarullah, one of Sheikh Hasina's closest 
advisors and a member of the AL Presidium, complained to us 
about the "brutality" of the police during the protest, 
claiming that he himself had been hit by police at one point. 
 He said that he could not understand the violent response of 
the police that led to the death of the protestor.  When 
reminded that a police officer also died he told us that 
"when the police kill our people, (our people) can't be held 
responsible for their reactions." 
 
¶8. (C) COMMENT. This violence is only the beginning of what 
is likely to become a very rough pre-election campaign.  The 
AL believes that, like in 1996, it needs to demonstrate 
control of the streets in order to win the elections. 
However, the AL needs to be careful not to overplay its hand. 
 At least in the cities, where protest actions are most 
disruptive, the public is growing increasingly frustrated 
with the confrontational tactics of both parties.    The BNP, 
while it cannot risk ceding control of the streets to the AL, 
also cannot appear to be using excessive force to foil the 
protests.  Both sides have an incentive to provoke the other 
side to violence, and both want to appear the victim of the 
other's excesses.  Sadly, both parties view the loss of life 
simply as the cost of playing the political game in 
Bangladesh. END COMMENT. 
BUTENIS