Last Sunday the Bangladesh government arrested nearly 20,000 people in the capital Dhaka, in a bid to foil any agitation by the country's opposition party. Under laws designed to arrest anyone looking suspicious they mainly nicked people mostly aged between 15 and 30 years, most of whom were not even remotely connected with politics! Some had arrived in the capital for job interviews, some to consult doctors or give examinations, while others were just visitors. Freshly released after two days of ordeal inside jail, one youth from the old part of Dhaka, complained "I was forced to keep standing in a dark and dingy room crammed with over 1,000 people. I could not even sleep for a moment."

Bangladesh news review site

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia yesterday defended the step of ongoing 'mass arrests', terming it a necessary measure to foil a conspiracy to unseat her elected government. Article from the Daily Star (Bangladeshi middle of the road Newspaper)