Dhaka on edge amid Opposition’s blockade

Dhaka, December 24

A total of 147 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh were deployed across the country on Sunday to maintain law and order ahead of the January 7 elections as a 12-hour road, rail and waterways blockade called by the opposition BNP and its allies demanding the resignation of Sheikh Hasina-led government is underway.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its mostly far-right allies allege that no election under the incumbent dispensation would be fair and demand the restoration of a non-party interim government for election oversight by amending the country’s Constitution.

Of the 147 platoons deployed across the country, 16 teams patrolled Dhaka and adjoining districts, said Shariful Islam, PRO at Border Guard Bangladesh.

This is the 12th such blockade called by the opposition parties since October 31, and the first since the announcement of BNP’s non-cooperation movement against the government.