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Web-only Exclusives November 30, 2000 From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead Bad news for the Philippines - and some others From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights? |
Week of June 14, 1996
DEADLY TANGLE
At least 15 people died and 50 others were injured when they got entangled in high-voltage power lines while celebrating on top of an overcrowded bus in Bangladesh. The political rally to which they were traveling - in support of ex-PM Khaleda Zia - turned into a funeral service instead. General elections are scheduled for June 12.Week of June 7, 1996
COUP INQUIRY
A major general and four brigadiers will make up the Court of Inquiry looking into the aborted coup attempt that rattled Bangladesh on May 20. Elections are still scheduled for June 12. In February's voting the army was helpful and even-handed in overseeing logistics. The caretaker government warns it will deal sternly with any further threats to stability.Week of May 24, 1996
DEBT TO DEMOCRACY
"It was an unusual phenomenon indeed," said one bank official. Thousands of people who wanted to compete in the June 12 parliamentary elections in Bangladesh lined up outside banks, anxious to repay loans on which they had defaulted. The rush came after the election commission declared candidates had to be debt-free if they wanted to run.Week of May 17, 1996
MAKING SURE
With new general elections scheduled for June 12, police in Bangladesh arrested 17,535 people in a drive to round up illegal weapons. It's part of a plan by the caretaker government of Mohammed Habibur Rahman to achieve a violence-free poll. So far 1,286 weapons and 7,169 explosive devices have been seized in the month-long sweep.Week of May 3, 1996
DEATH RAP
Bangladesh's Begum Khaleda Zia may be out of the PM's office, but she's not out of the headlines. Twelve intellectuals have filed charges against Zia and two other leaders of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party, saying they received death threats at rallies attended by the ex-premier. Zia quit March 30 ahead of elections to break the country's political impasse.Week of April 26, 1996
ELECTION BILL
What price democracy? Bangladesh's election commission has asked for about $5 million to conduct the upcoming general elections. That's about twice as much as was spent on the now-invalidated balloting held in February. No date has been set yet for the new round of polling, but the constitution stipulates that elections must be held before June 8.Week of April 5, 1996
SOLEMN OCCASION
Bangladesh's 25th independence anniversary was a cautious affair: many people did not realize opposition parties had called a two-day respite from the ongoing anti-government strike that has paralyzed the country. Strong winds and rain further dampened spirits. So did the opposition's rejection of the government's decision to hold new parliamentary elections.Week of March 29, 1996
SAFER TO WALK
If you're a bus driver in Bangladesh, and are ready to break the opposition's program of non-cooperation, the government will give you 20 liters of free fuel. So far, there have been few takers. Drivers are asking if the government will also pay for any damages caused by the anti-government gangs roaming the streets enforcing the strike.Week of March 15, 1996
INVITATION DECLINED
Trying an "arrest and release" approach in dealing with her political opposition, Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia says she will free seven opponents and invite them and senior politicians to talks aimed at negotiating an end to the country's violent stalemate. The first response of the opposition? They refuse to deal with her "illegal government."Week of March 8, 1996
BANGLADESH: A TALE OF WOE
On the heels of last month's failed elections, Bangladesh's three main opposition parties have warned of an imminent civil war as the country continues its slide into chaos. Murders, mutilated corpses, a protracted general strike, teargas-quelled demonstrations, rioters shot in the streets, the extended detention of opposition leaders without charges -- all are becoming commonplace. Shopowners regularly make pleas to opposition leaders for permission to open their stores. Businessmen say politicians, trying to grab power or cash in the midst of the chaos, frequently use extortionists to raise funds. Neither government nor opposition leaders have heeded calls from the diplomatic community for compromise and appear no closer to resolving their impasse than they were 22 months ago.Week of Feburary 23, 1996
ELECTION RE-RUN?
Two days before voting was to get underway, beleaguered Bangladesh PM Begum Khaleda Zia, in the face of widespread resistance to the national elections she had insisted on holding despite an opposition-called boycott, admitted she is considering holding new polls. Zia softened her line after a walkout by officials assigned to oversee the balloting.Week of Feburary 9, 1996
DON'T BLAME HIM
The Chief Election Commissioner, A. K. M. Sadeque, told reporters Bangladesh's political parties "are creating garbage and trying to dump it on the Election Commission," blaming it for the country's continuing slide into chaos. With all major parties boycotting the Feb. 15 general elections, the government is running virtually unopposed.Week of Feburary 2, 1996
ONE-HORSE RACE
So far, virtually all opposition parties have stuck to the plan to boycott Bangladesh's general elections on Feb. 15. They confronted the opening day of campaigning with calls for more strikes, continuing their 21 months of resistance to the government of PM Khaleda Zia. They vow to drive her from office, disrupt the polls and hold fresh elections.Week of January 26, 1996
CHILD TRAFFICKING
The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association is threatening to sue the government for not stopping the trade in Bangladeshi children. Some sources say 200 to 400 are smuggled out of the country monthly. They are bought for about $72, passed along by a series of agents and sent to India, Pakistan and some of the Gulf states.Week of January 19, 1996
IF TWICE, THRICE?
The election commissioner, hoping for a solution to Bangaladesh's 21-month-old electoral stalemate, has put back general elections for the second time. The new date is Feb. 15. This is absolutely the latest date, he says. After that, the calendar becomes too crowded with national days and celebrations at the end of Ramadan.Week of January 12, 1996
BAD JAIL RECORD
Human rights organizations in Bang-ladesh charge police with "involvement in heinous crimes like rape and extortion of money . . . and harassment in custody." Nine people died in jail in 1995, 34 others died from injuries received while being arrested. "Some die in the cells as they are tortured for obtaining confession," admits a senior police official.Week of January 5, 1996
DEADLINE EASED
The opposition did not request it, but Bangladesh's commissioner of elections pushed back the date for general parliamentary elections by 20 days to Feb. 7. He made the move just before party registration expired for the earlier date. Three main opposition parties are still vowing to boycott the elections, unless a caretaker government is in power at the time.News from Bangladesh in 1995
