DHAKA: Supporters of Bangladesh Awami League march in the street as they take part in a general election campaign procession. - AFP

DHAKA: New
clashes marred the deadly Bangladesh election campaign yesterday as opposition
leaders stepped up complaints over the organization of what they consider a
one-sided vote. Youths on motorbikes carrying a banner of the ruling Awami
League attacked an opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party candidate with
knives, hours after a BNP leader was wounded in clashes between rival party
activists, police said.

Habibur Rahman
Habib, a BNP candidate for parliament, was attacked by 15 men on motorbikes in
the northern town of Ishwardi yesterday, according to police. "He was
hacked three times on his thigh. He was grievously injured but is out of
danger," local police chief Bahauddin Faruqi told AFP. Late Tuesday,
senior BNP leader Goyeshwar Roy was injured as BNP and Awami League activists
clashed in Dhaka district, police superintendent SM Shafiur Rahman told AFP.
Media images showed blood pouring down Roy's face.

The campaign for
Sunday's vote has seen daily confrontations between supporters of the two main
parties, which has further soured their bitter constitutional showdown. Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina is seeking a record fourth term, but her party has been
accused of organizing the arrest and intimidation of opposition candidates to
boost her chances. The government denies any wrongdoing. The BNP, whose leader
Khaleda Zia is in jail, and its main Islamist ally claim more than 11,500 of
their supporters have been detained since the election was called on November
8. Hundreds of their supporters have been injured in fighting, they say.

Thousands
arrested

Six people --
four BNP supporters and two from the Awami League -- have been killed in the
campaign violence. The BNP-led opposition coalition demanded the resignation of
the chief election commissioner Nurul Huda, accusing him of supporting ruling
party followers in the unrest. "It is not possible to get a non-partisan
and neutral election from him and there is no possibility of fair treatment
from him," opposition spokesman Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

Opposition
parties walked out of a meeting with Huda late Tuesday, and have demanded a
neutral election commissioner take over for Sunday's vote. They say the mass
arrest of their followers -- 8,243 from the BNP and 3,600 from the
Jamaat-e-Islami -- was intended to create a "climate of fear". Police
have not confirmed the number of arrests during the campaign but insist all
those detained had warrants against them.

"We never
target any individual unless they break the law," said police spokesman
Sohel Rana. There was no comment from Chief Election Commissioner on the
violence, but another election commissioner urged police "act neutrally
and without discrimination to all." "Don't take any undesirable
action by being too enthusiastic," commissioner Mahbub Talukder said in a
statement. "Refrain from acting in a partisan manner in the polls. Uphold
the dignity and righteousness of your uniform... I am worried over the growing
number of incidents of clashes and violence ahead of the national
election."

Hasina and Zia
have been political foes since the introduction of democracy in 1991. They have
traditionally alternated in power but Hasina's current rule has lasted since
2009 and Zia's jail term this year prevented her from taking part in the
election. The ruling party has emphasized the economic growth in Hasina's last
10 years in power to justify her reelection. The BNP had hoped the deployment
of 30,000 troops on Monday would improve security across the Muslim-majority
country of 165 million.

But Ahmed said
its candidates were attacked in 28 constituencies on Tuesday, leaving more than
100 people injured. Hasina won a 2008 poll by a landslide and the BNP boycotted
the 2014 election -- saying it was not free and fair -- gifting her a return to
power. Civil society and rights groups have accused Hasina's government of
silencing dissent and muzzling the press through a strict digital-security law.
- AFP