DHAKA: Bangladesh's army chief has accused politicians suspended by the military-backed government of instigating riots that prompted a new security clampdown and curfew.
The leading cities of Bangladesh, which has been under a state of emergency since January 11, were put under curfew on Wednesday following three days of rioting which spread from the capital Dhaka.
Army chief General Moeen U Ahmed blamed "a conspiracy of a quarter of corrupt and dishonest politicians to destroy the image of the government".
The government lifted the curfew for most of Friday, Saturday and yesterday, and said it would be lifted again for 18 hours today.
Meanwhile, the son of a university professor arrested for allegedly fuelling the riots said yesterday his father had been mistreated while in custody.
Anwar Hossian, a professor of biochemistry and dean of biological sciences at Dhaka University, was among five professors arrested in Dhaka and northwestern Rajshahi.
All five were remanded for between four and 10 days by courts on Saturday, police said.
The army-backed interim government yesterday said the violence and curfew would not stop the authorities from holding a credible election by the end of next year.
"The incident won't deflect Bangladesh from its roadmap to hold a credible election by December next year," Iftikhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a government adviser with responsibility for the foreign ministry, told western diplomats.
One man was killed and nearly 300 were injured in clashes with security forces before the curfew was declared.
Police said they had arrested 17 people, accusing them of participating in or instigating the violence, and initiated cases against more than 87,000 students across the country for suspected involvement in the unrest.
British ambassador Anwar Choudhury told reporters after a meeting at the foreign ministry that all Bangladeshis should work hard for a free and fair election.
"We have support for the interim government," he said.
"We believe the student unrest was initially spontaneous but later it turned into a co-ordinated violence."
He did not say who he thought had co-ordinated the violence.
Human Rights Watch, a US-based rights group, accused Bangladesh of human rights abuses and urged authorities to abide by international standards.
"The demonstrations currently taking place in Bangladesh come after eight months of repressive emergency rule, which has restricted the rights to protest and to seek a legal remedy, and fails to respect basic due process rights," the group said in a statement.
"What sparked these protests is the ongoing repression of emergency rule, and the government's heavy-handed response is like oil on a fire," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
The interim government dismissed the group's comments.
"We are doing everything constitutionally and legally. There is no question of human rights violations," the government's law and information adviser, Mainul Husein said.
"Those who were accused of a violation of the law have been produced before the court within 24 hours for a legal decision."
"Let the HRW pinpoint where we are violating human rights. If they can, we will take corrective action," he said.
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