B'desh celebrates I-day amid turmoil

New Delhi: Saturday, December 16, marks Bangladesh's 35th independence day. On this day in 1971, the country was born after East Pakistan became independent from West Pakistan.

Shiekh Mujib-ur-Rahman's movement and military intervention by India were instrumental in Bagladesh's formation.

Though, the anniversary is being overshadowed with the country preoccupied in holding clean elections next month, rival leaders all took out the time to lay wreaths at a war memorial near the capital, albeit amid tight security.

First to lay wreaths at the memorial at Savar, 25 km from Dhaka, was President Iajuddin Ahmed, followed by rival former prime ministers Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, witnesses said.

Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Hasina's Awami League are currently locked in a bitter struggle to win power in the elections set for January 23.

The run-up to the polls so far has been violent and tense with rival activists clashing almost every day, killing at least 44 and injuring hundreds since late October.

At least 10 people were injured in the latest fight on Friday night, just before party officials gathered to lay wreaths at the war memorial.

Despite the anniversary, Bangladesh was focused on Saturday on its present-day challenge to hold a free and fair election, with a Hasina-led multiparty alliance still threatening to "resist" unless crucial reforms are implemented.

The reforms include removal of key officials at the Election Commission, whom Hasina accuses of bias in favour of Khaleda and the BNP, and pushing back the poll date to allow more time for campaigning.

Khaleda handed power to President Iajuddin on October 29 at the end of her five-year term as prime minister. He now heads an interim government charged with organising free, impartial polls.

Hasina has accused Iajuddin too of "bias" towards Khaleda and urged him to quit as caretaker leader to prove his neutrality.

The BNP meanwhile, attacked Hasina, saying she was trying to destroy democracy and push Bangladesh into a constitutional crisis.