People and students run as police fire tear gas shells during a protest over recent traffic accidents that killed a boy and a girl, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The U.S. has called on Bangladeshi authorities to take legal action against those involved in carrying out an attack on its envoy’s convoy in the capital Dhaka, local media reported on Tuesday.
The demand was made in a diplomatic letter sent by the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka to the Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh on Monday evening, reported Prothom Alo, a local daily.
University and high school students in Dhaka have been protesting for safer roads and justice for their two peers who were killed in an accident in Dhakaon July 29.
On Saturday, the U.S. envoy’s convoy came under attack from a group of armed adults. Ambassador Marcia Bernicat and her security team left the area unharmed following the attack but two security vehicles were damaged, a statement by the U.S. Embassy said.
Meanwhile, EU Heads of Mission in Dhaka also expressed concern over the violent clashes in Dhaka.
“We expect all sides to remain calm and to respect the right to peaceful protest. Incidents of unlawful or disproportionate violence or action against protestors, journalists or others need to stop; those that happened must be investigated and perpetrators held to account,” the statement by the mission said.
Police and ruling party men filed cases against top opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders for allegedly provoking student protest.
Besides, some 1,200 unknown people were also sued for alleged attack on the party office of ruling Awami League on Saturday, reports local daily The Daily Star.
Amid escalating casualties from nationwide student protests, the U.S. envoy’s convoy came under attack from a group of armed adults in the capital Dhaka, said U.S. officials on Sunday.Ambassador Marcia Bernicat and her security team left the Mohammadpur area unharmed after the Saturday night attack, but two security vehicles were damaged, said a U.S. Embassy statement.In a statement on Facebook, the embassy added: “While we do not condone the actions of a few who have engaged in senseless property destruction, including of buses and other vehicles, nothing can justify the brutal attacks and violence over the weekend against the thousands of young people who have been peacefully exercising their democratic rights in supporting a safer Bangladesh.”University and high school students in Dhaka have been protesting for safer roads and justice for their two peers who were killed in an accident in Dhaka on July 29.Bangladesh considers capital punishment for driving deathsAt least 50 people -- including 10 journalists -- were also injured in a clash between police and ruling party members, reported local daily Prothom Alo.Several thousand students also marched on the Dhaka headquarters of the ruling Awami League in Dhanmondi to protest attacks on students on Saturday by Awami’s student branch, injuring hundreds.Speaking to reporters, representatives of Awami and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) blamed each other for the volatile situation.In another development, the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) unit arrested a local actress on charges of spreading rumors online which fueled the protests.Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday warned of stern measures against anyone who tests the government’s patience.He called on protesting students to go home, adding that their demands will be met.The protests also again kept public buses off the streets, causing hardship to commuters in the capital.
US convoy attacked, 50 injured in protests in Bangladesh
Bangladesh's cabinet on Monday will consider capital punishment for traffic accident deaths, a law ministry official said, as thousands of students held protests for a ninth day over the deaths of two teenagers by a speeding bus in Dhaka.Tens of thousands of angry school and colleges students have been demanding changes to Bangladesh's transport laws, paralysing the crowded capital of 18 million, after the two teenagers were killed when a privately operated bus ran over a group of students on July 29."In this amendment it has been proposed to award the highest level of punishment if it is killing by an accident," said the law ministry official, who has been briefed on the matter but declined to be named ahead of a decision.Bangladesh cracks down on dangerous driving after protestsThe current punishment is a maximum jail term of three years. Using the death penalty for road accidents is rare anywhere in the world. Bangladesh's transport authority listed punishments given in different countries that ranged from 14 years in the U.K. in extreme cases to two years in India.Sheikh Shafi, a student of a polytechnic institute in Dhaka who lost his brother in a road accident in 2015, said one of the problems was that bus drivers are not paid fixed monthly salaries instead only earn commissions based on the number of passengers, forcing them to work long hours."Our demand is that the owners must appoint them and they will work a maximum of 10 hours. The commission based system must be eliminated," said Shafi, who was injured while protesting on Saturday.Student road safety protests engulf capital: BangladeshAmid the ongoing protests, an official vehicle carrying the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh was attacked by a group of armed men on Sunday, some on motorcycles, the embassy said in a statement. There were no injuries but two vehicles were damaged.The embassy has condemned the "brutal attacks and violence" against the students protesters by security forces, a charge the government denies.Police said they did not have an immediate explanation as to why the U.S. ambassador came under attack.
Bangladesh considers capital punishment for driving deaths