Bangladesh Rings In New Year With a Curfew

For many people around the world, New Year's eve means partying, celebrations, and bubbly. Not so for many residents of Dhaka City, the capital of Bangladesh. Many residents here were celebrating New Years under the auspices of a government-imposed curfew.

As of 8 pm on New Year's eve (9 am EST), this limited curfew was imposed in parts of the city most frequently visited by tourists and expats. In such areas - after the imposition of curfew - cars were not permitted to come and go and any group consisting of more than two people were to be searched and questioned.

Curfews are by no means a rare occurrence in this small South Asian
nation. Following violent student riots last August, the government had
imposed a multi-day curfew and media blackout. Even in the absence of
violence, curfews are a common tool used by the government (currently
an unelected military-backed caretaker government) as a means of
maintaining order.

What makes this curfew peculiar is how early in the evening it had
been imposed. Residents familiar with curfews from previous New Years
have said that it is typical for curfew to be imposed after midnight -
not at eight in the evening. Given that the curfew is not city wide and
has only been imposed in parts of the city popular to foreigners -
which include the few places in this Muslim country where alcohol can
be purchased - some have suggested that this maybe a simple measure to
curb drunk driving and other disorderly conduct.

To my surprise, however, some have suggested that this may in fact
maybe related to the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Bangladesh
still has close ties to Pakistan given it's shared religion and shared
history. However, Bangladesh has remained relatively calm and orderly
after news spread of Bhutto's assassination. This early curfew maybe
the government's way to ensure that that trend doesn't change.

Reporting from an eerily quiet Dhaka City - NowPublic Member Uncultured.

[Update: It is now almost 8 am on January 1st here in Dhaka and the curfew should have been lifted now if everything has gone to plan. I haven't had the opportunity to confirm this yet. Hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Years... especially if it's not under curfew!]

[Update 2: I had originally taken this article off of NowPublic pending confirmation from other sources. The Daily Star is now reporting that approximately 6,000 law enforcement officials were used to enforce this curfew. You can read the full article here.]