A campaign by the Opposition in Bangladesh to force the government to resign and hold an early election intensified on Monday as the country was hit by a second general strike in a week. Opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia said the 72-hour strike would be followed by more strikes if Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina did not step down before her term ends on July 13.
"If she doesn't (step down) we will go for further actions, including hartals (strikes), to force her out and pave the way for early elections,'' former Prime Minister Khaleda warned on Sunday.
Hasina has refused to leave office and has accused the Opposition of damaging democracy and the economy. Hundreds of riot police imposed tight security in the capital Dhaka on Monday amid fears the Opposition strike would degenerate into violence.

Many buses and trains left the city before the strike began at 6 am. Streets were largely deserted except for a few taxis and rickshaws.
Fears of violence intensified after two men -- a local-level leader of the ruling Awami League and its student front, the Bangladesh Chhatra League -- were shot dead by rivals from the Jamaat-e-Islami party near the port city of Chittagong on Sunday. Jamaat is a member of the four-party opposition alliance led by Khaleda, chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Three people were killed and more than 300 injured in another three-day Opposition-led Bangladesh strike last week.
The strikes routinely disrupt work at Chittagong Port and halt trade on the Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges. Business leaders say the country suffers production and export losses worth some 66 million every day there is a strike. Bureau Report