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In pictures: Bangladesh street protests

Protesters are back on the streets of Bangladesh demanding an end of ties between Dhaka and Islamabad.

Bangladeshi social activists and bloggers display placards at a demonstration against Pakistan(***)s resolution on the execution of a top Jamaat-e-Islami leader on Decemebr 12. Abdul Quader Mollah, 65, was convicted of war crimes in 1971.
By Mahmud Hossain Opu
Published On 22 Dec 2013

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Dhaka, Bangladesh – Pro-government protesters in Bangladesh have forced a review of bilateral relations with neighbouring Pakistan following Islamabad’s stance on the recent execution of a Bangladeshi opposition leader.

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah, 65, was the first person to be put to death for abuses committed during the bloody 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

Four days after the execution, Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a resolution expressing concerns over Mollah’s hanging. In response, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Pakistan’s top envoy in Dhaka to register its protest.

Pakistan said the resolution “reflects the emotions of the general [Pakistani] public”, and the country wants Bangladesh to be “stable politically as well as internally”.

Since then hundreds of protesters have been rallying outside the Pakistan Embassy in Dhaka to register their anger against what they call “Pakistani interference” in Bangladesh’s internal affairs.

The hanging of Abdul Quader Mollah and Pakistan(***)s response has strained relations between Dhaka and Islamabad.
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Bangladeshi social activists and bloggers chant anti-Pakistan slogans during a protest in Dhaka.
Islamabad(***)s resolution urged Bangladesh not to resurrect issues of 1971 and end all cases against the opposition(***)s leadership in the country.
Bangladeshi social activists have demanded an unconditional apology from Pakistan since Islamabad adopted a pro-Jamaat-e-Islami resolution on December 16.
Some anti-Pakistan demonstrators earlier this year pushed the government to impose harsher punishments on alleged war criminals of the independence war with Pakistan in 1971. 
Security in the country has been beefed up ever since the Jamaat leader(***)s execution. Bangladesh has witnessed unrest from both pro-Jamaat activists and pro-government supporters.
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The Jamaat leader(***)s hanging has triggered riots and many fear the violence could escalate.
Bangladesh(***)s ruling party Awami League says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators including Jamaat-e-Islami members, killed hundreds of thousands of people and raped 200,000 women during the 1971 war.
Bangladeshi riot police have been clashing with social activists and bloggers during anti-Pakistan protests in Dhaka.
The ruling Awami League and opposition parties such as the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party are on a collision course ahead of a national election scheduled for January 5, 2014.
Bangladeshi police also detained several protesters following clashes during a demonstration outside the Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka. 
Besides anti-Pakistan protesters, Bangladesh security forces, according to reports, have arrested hundreds in a nationwide crackdown on the opposition ahead of the January 5 general election. 
On Saturday hundreds of students, teachers, political and social activists in Bangladesh re-launched protests against Pakistan(***)s reaction on the hanging of Abdul Quader Mollah.
Some protesters called Thursday on Bangladesh(***)s government to sever diplomatic ties with Pakistan within 20 hours.