Steel-helmeted riot police patrolled the streets and paramilitary troops guarded state buildings in Dhaka on Wedn as Bangladesh was hit by yet another anti-government general strike. The half-day strike, the second such called by the Opposition in the past fortnight, was called to protest the killing of an opposition leader, Habibur Rahman Mondal, on Sunday.
Mondal, a lawyer and joint secretary of the Dhaka unit of the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while going to court. The BNP has blamed the ruling Awami League (AL) activists for his death. Al has denied the allegation.
Most private vehicles in Dhaka stayed off the streets and schools and major businesses were shut as the seven-hour stoppage began early on Wednesday morning. Ruling party supporters staged protests and marches against the strikers but there were no reports of violence.
The nationwide strike, enforced by a four-party alliance headed by the BNP of former premier Begum Khaleda Zia, also widely disrupted normal life in the south-eastern port city of Chittagong, residents said. The alliance, which includes the Jatiya Party of former military ruler H M Ershad, the fundamentalist Jammat-E-Islami party and the Islami Aikya Jote, has been demanding the resignation of the four-year-old Sheikh Hasina government.
Elections are scheduled for the latter part of next year and Hasina has refused to bow down to the opposition's demands.

Bureau Report