2 killed in fresh Bangla clashes,voting centres burnt

BNP calls 48-hr strike from today.

Bangladeshs main opposition party BNP Friday called for a fresh 48-hour shutdown to derail Sundays polls,with its chief Khaleda Zia asking people to boycott the farce election,even as two people were killed in clashes and five makeshift voting centres torched.

No one at home and abroad will recognise it as an election and through this,the Awami League government will appear anew as an illegal structure, Zia,also head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led 18-party opposition alliance,said in a statement.

Zia called upon countrymen to fully boycott the election,terming it a stigmatised farce.

The least contested election is going to take place in 147 constituencies on January 5 as 153 lawmakers have already been elected uncontested due to the boycott by the BNP-led alliance and other political parties.

Zia asked the opposition leaders,activists and common people of the country to carry on with the movement against what she termed as autocratic rule,the Daily Star reported.

January 5 will be recognised as a black date, Zia said.

The BNP called for the nationwide 48-hour shutdown,which will include the polling day,in protest against the polls. The strike was called even as the opposition has enforced a non-stop blockade since January 1 to foil the polls.

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In protest against the one-sided election,a countrywide general strike will be observed from 6 am Saturday along with the non-stop blockade, BNP Chairpersons Advisor Osman Faruq said.

Meanwhile,two people were killed and three others injured late Thursday night when suspected BNP activists and its fundamentalist ally Jamaat-e-Islami hurled petrol bombs on a truck in northwestern Hakimpur of Dinajpur district.

The driver apparently lost control over the wheels as the truck caught fire8230; it overturned and fell into a roadside ditch, a police officer said,adding that the driver and the trader were burnt to death.

Five makeshift voting centres housed at four schools were set ablaze at Daganbhuiyan area of northwestern Feni,the hometown of BNP chief Khaleda Zia.

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The BNP-led 18-party alliance has been demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas resignation and scrapping of the January 5 polls.

The BNP has refused to field candidates,saying elections under Hasina will be rigged,an accusation the premier strongly rejects.

The ruling Awami League has turned down the opposition demands,calling it unconstitutional while international communitys efforts and a UN-initiated talks between the two parties last month also failed to end the deadlock.

Accusing opposition leader Zia of taking the country hostage,Hasina Thursday ruled out cancellation of Sunday polls and asked the people to actively participate in elections to uphold democracy.

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The premier,however,earlier hinted that the 10th parliament to be installed after the elections could be short-lived to pave ways for the 11th general election after talks with BNP if it cut off ties with Jamaat,which was opposed to Bangladeshs independence from Pakistan.

Elections without BNP unacceptable to 77 Bangladeshis: Survey

Over three-quarters of Bangladeshis believed the January 5 election would be unacceptable without the main opposition BNPs participation,and only 41 per cent would vote,according to a new survey by the Dhaka Tribune newspaper.