Political mayhem broke out on Saturday all over Bangladesh. I had gone to my
bosses wedding in Chapai Nabagang which is 6 hours from Dhaka and 30 km
from the Indian border. I arrived on Thursday. The wedding was Friday, and I was staying for the event hosted by his family on Saturday and had booked a night bus
for Saturday night. My 4 colleagues (which includes a 1 year old
little girl) were planning on leaving early Saturday morning to get to
a big harvest festival event in their village. Instead there was
rioting all over the country as people protested the caretaker
government that was coming into power while both parties prepare for
elections to be held in January. We rented a van and tried to leave together,
but turned back when we encountered large crowds swinging sticks. Dhaka city was
completely barracaded and all busses and transport (aside from
rickshaws) were shut down. Many people had travelled to their home
villages for the Eid holidays and were stranded. People couldn't get
to work. I think around 24 people died throughout the country and many more were injured. We all expected something like this to happen following EID,
but not until after the work week started on Sunday. Luckily, my bosses parents
were very gracious and we were able to stay there in a nice quiet town
until the opposition party called the protests off and busses resumed service. They are giving the caretaker government until the 3rd to show that they can be
nonpartisan and fair. Since I already had a bus ticket I was able to
get on a bus at 10:30 last night and arrived home at 5 a.m. Things may
erupt again, but at least now I'm safely home and can carry on with my
classes and other programs, have clean clothes, and computer access!
My boss unfortunately didn't manage to get tickets for his planned honeymoon! I'll put pictures and such from the wedding on the blog later this week. Meanwhile, here's a couple shots of our entertainment (or more accurately, us providing the entertainment) while in confinement!
