 Bangladesh police said on Monday they had detained 200 activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami for staging violent protests after three top party leaders were arrested on charges ranging from obstructing police to sedition.
| That was fast. And accomplished without any help from the Rapid Action Battalion, too. |
| Almost like they were expecting it. |
| If they were expecting it then it follows that many/most of the 200 detained have violent headaches right now ... |
The activists attacked vehicles, public offices and a police station in Chittagong on Sunday when the Jamaat-e-Islami party called for nationwide protests.
They were demanding the release of the three leaders -- party chief Moulana Motiur Rahman Nizami, his deputy Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and another key leader Delwar Hossain Saidee -- who were held on police remand last week for interrogation. Protests were also held in other districts, but police moved in to prevent violence, witnesses and police said. Nearly 150 were detained in Chittagong and the rest across the country, police said. Jamaat is a political ally of the opposition Nationalist Party led by former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, who has demanded their release and asked the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to stop "persecuting" the opposition.
Many Bangladeshis accuse Jamaat of collaborating with the Pakistani army during the 1971 war of independence, in which around 3 million people were killed at the hands of the Pakistani army and collaborators during the nine-month war.
| Things have been awfully interesting in Bangladesh ever since the ISI organized that little troop rebellion. |
|