Pranab Mukherjee begins Dhaka visit amid clashes, Khaleda Zia cancels meeting

Mangaloretoday/DHNS

Dhaka, March 3: President Pranab Mukherjee today began his three-day state visit of Bangladesh amid continuing clashes sparked by the death sentence given to a top Islamist opposition leader for his role in atrocities, including rape and killings, during the country’s 1971 freedom war.

In an apparent fallout of the domestic political standoff over the war crimes trial and the violence, Bangladesh opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia cancelled her meeting with President Mukherjee scheduled for tomorrow.

 

The clashes between people celebrating the death sentence for the war crimes and supporters of the convicted Jamaat-e-Islami chief Delwar Hossain Sayeedi have left at least 65 people dead since Thursday, including 16 today.

The Jamaat-e-Islami has called for a nationwide general strike today and tomorrow in protest against the war crimes trials supported by the Sheikh Hasina government, in which some of its top leaders have been sentenced to death.

The Jamaat is an ally of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and was a partner in her government from 2001 to 2006. Khaleda Zia has also called for a strike on Tuesday. So Bangladesh is expected to remain shut on all three days of President Mukherjee’s visit.

President Mukherjee, on arrival, was received by Bangladesh President Mohammad Zillur Rahman and senior ministers of Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet. He was given a ceremonial reception at the airport, including a 21-gun salute, after which he inspected the guard of honour by the three services of Bangladesh defence forces.

President Mukherjee is expected to meet the Bangladesh President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He will also receive the Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Award for his contribution to country’s liberation war and also an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Dhaka.

Both countries had last month inked an extradition treaty, a liberalised visa agreement, and also exchanged maps of the demarcated stretches, in accordance with the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) of 1974.

Both the nations are also to launch a rail link between Akhaura in Bangladesh and Agartala in Tripura. They have also inked agreements on several issues, including amending the double taxation avoidance treaty and for opening additional border haats (markets) in Tripura and Meghalaya.