Bangladesh, May 23 -- They come with bulging travel bags and sleeping children in arms, with umbrellas tucked under elbows and food packets swinging from tired hands.

At Kamalapur Railway Station on Friday afternoon, the scene was unmistakable: tens of thousands of Dhaka's residents, gripped by the pull of home ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, were already voting with their feet - leaving early to beat the chaos they know is coming.

By mid-morning, the station's platforms were thick with the hum of public address announcements, the shuffle of luggage on wet concrete - it had rained briefly - and the barely-suppressed excitement of people preparing to leave the capital behind. A few spread old newspapers on the floor and sat down to wait.

Others ...