US embassy cable - 05DHAKA2314

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002314 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PREL, BG, Crime/Murders 
SUBJECT: DHAKA QUIET AFTER KILLING OF OPPOSITION OFFICIAL 
 
 
Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reason para 1. 4 d. 
 
1.  (C) Summary.  Local media and some Awami League (AL) 
leaders speculate that the May 17 killing in Dhaka of a minor 
party leader was the result of internal rivalries and not, as 
the AL publicly alleges, "government backed killers."  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On May 17, three unidentified assailants in the 
Tejgaon district of Dhaka unleashed a barrage of gunfire that 
killed Advocate Khorshed Alam Bachchu, Legal Secretary of the 
Awami League's Dhaka city unit, as he went to work at the 
Supreme Court.  The killing triggered limited but violent 
rioting in Tejgaon, which is about a half mile from the 
Chancery.  AL SYG Abdul Jalil condemned the killing as the 
work of "government-backed killers" and announced as a 
protest a dawn-to-dusk general strike for May 18 in Dhaka. 
 
3. (SBU) Local media, citing AL sources, speculated that 
internal AL rivalries over appointments to a local committee 
might be behind the attack.  Bachchu's widow, in a tearful TV 
interview, alluded to committee "problems," apparently as a 
possible factor in her husband's death.  Embassy press 
guidance, reported by many newspapers, expressed condolences 
to the bereaved, condemnation of acts of violence, and hopes 
for bringing Bachchu's killers to justice promptly and 
lawfully. 
 
4. (C) AL Joint Secretary General Mukul Bose, a Sheikh Hasina 
loyalist, confirmed to us that internal rivalries could be 
involved, but said it is premature to draw firm conclusions 
about the perpetrators or their motives. 
 
5. (SBU) The May 18 general strike has been relatively 
relaxed, with no reports of violence and traffic moving at 
close to normal levels in many areas. 
 
6. (C) Comment: The AL's ability to derive mileage from the 
killing of Bachchu, a minor official largely unknown outside 
his neighborhood and AL circles, appears to be limited.  His 
modest profile and speculation that he was the victim of 
internal party rivalries probably account for the 
exceptionally poor public response to today's strike. 
Competition for local party prominence can be fierce for the 
sake of prestige and of influence in the awarding/selling of 
party nominations for political posts. 
THOMAS