DHAKA, Dec 16 Celebrations to mark Bangladesh’s independence on Saturday were marred by clashes between rival political parties and police ahead of parliamentary elections due next month. The military marked the public holiday with a dawn artillery barrage and people poured into the streets chanting “victory is forever, let us keep it safe”.

Bangladesh won independence on Dec 16, 1971, after a nine-month guerilla war in which millions died.

Addressing a parade in Dhaka, President Iajuddin Ahmed urged Bangladeshis to make the impoverished country a happy and prosperous nation. The president laid a wreath at the national war memorial at Savar, 25km from here, followed by rival former prime ministers Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, said witnesses. Security was tight.

Khaleda’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Hasina’s Awami League (AL) are vying for power in elections on Jan 23.— Reuters