Bangladesh paralysed by opposition strike
(Reuters)

6 March 2004

DHAKA - Bangladesh came to a virtual standstill again on Saturday as a fifth day-long strike in less than four weeks took effect.

“The strike will take our campaign to get rid of this inefficient and ineffective government one step further,” said Mohammad Abdul Jalil, general secretary of the Awami League opposition party.  Most vehicles stayed off the streets, offices and schools were closed and operations at the country’s main Chittagong port ground to a halt.

The government deployed thousands of police to keep order after strike supporters set ablaze about 12 vehicles, including three buses, in Dhaka on Friday night, police said.

Riot police fanned out across the city early on Saturday, a working day in Muslim Bangladesh.

Saturday’s strike coincided with a massive student protest following an attack by unidentified assailants on a senior Dhaka University teacher and author a week ago. He is still critically ill.

The Awami League says it hopes repeated strikes would force the collapse of the government of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.

But Khaleda remains firmly in control, with a two-thirds majority in Bangladesh’s 300-member parliament and the strong backing of her Islamic allies in the country.  

 

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