NATIONWIDE STRIKE: Police stand guard during a nationwide strike called by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led alliance in Dhaka yesterday. Bangladesh restored power to the office of opposition leader Khaleda Zia, an official said yesterday nearly a day after it was cut in an apparent bid to force her to call off crippling protests.


AFP/Dhaka

Bangladesh restored power to the office of opposition leader Khaleda Zia, an official said yesterday, nearly a day after it was cut in an apparent bid to force her to call off  crippling protests.
A spokesman for Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said power was restored some 20 hours after a technician of the state-run power agency cut the lines, sparking a hail of criticism.
Internet, satellite television and mobile phone network at the office, where Zia has been holed up since she launched a nationwide transport blockade early January, remained severed.
“We got back power late Saturday night. But other lines including broadband Internet, fax, cable televisions and mobile phone remained snapped,” BNP spokesman Shamsuddin Dider said.
The power line was cut after a government minister reportedly threatened to sever the office’s electrical supply and force Zia to starve to death if she did not call off the nationwide transport blockade.
Zia has been confined to her office in Dhaka’s upmarket Gulshan district since threatening to rally her supporters against the government of bitter rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on January 5, the first anniversary of a disputed general election.
Her confinement has coincided with the death of her youngest son in Malaysia. Tens of thousands of mourners turned out at his funeral on Tuesday in a massive show of support for the embattled former premier.
While holed up, Zia has called a nationwide blockade of roads, railways and waterways, triggering deadly unrest that has left at least 42 people dead and nearly 800 vehicles firebombed or damaged.
She also called a 72-hour strike from Sunday, despite nationwide high-school examinations in which about 1.5 million students are taking part.
Zia wants Hasina, her rival of nearly three decades, to call fresh polls after last year’s controversial polls, which opposition parties boycotted on the grounds they would be rigged.
The boycott meant most members of the 300-seat parliament were returned unopposed, handing Hasina another five years in power.  
Zia denies the BNP and its Islamist allies were responsible for firebombings and has demanded the release of opposition officials and leaders detained over the violence.
Hasina has accused Zia of trying to trigger “anarchy” and ordered the security agencies to hunt down the protesters.
The EU, the nation’s biggest export destination, has urged Hasina’s government and the opposition to hold talks to resolve the crisis.

School exams deferred

Bangladesh yesterday deferred the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations of an estimated 1.5mn students scheduled for today due to the 72-hour countrywide shutdown called by the BNP-led 20-party alliance yesterday.
Talking to reporters after attending a meeting with senior officials of the education ministry, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said: “Now the postponed examinations of Bengali language papers will be held from on Friday (February 6).
Nahid said: “We’ve decided to reschedule the first day examinations as we can’t push our children towards violence unleashed by the 20-party alliance.”
The rest of the examinations will be held as per the schedule, said the minister.