Bangladesh-Clashes
Sporadic clashes between picketers and the police in the Bangladeshi capital marked the start of a dawn-to-dusk hartal or shutdown enforced countrywide by the Awami League (AL)-led opposition on Sunday.
At least 40 leaders and activists of the opposition alliance were injured in clashes with the police during hartal hours in the capital Dhaka, while the shutdown passed off peacefully in other parts of the country, according to New Age correspondents.
The opposition combine called the hartal on Wednesday in protest against police attacks on its leaders and activists during the Election Commission siege program that had left at least 50 people injured, including AL leader Saber Hossain Choudhury, in the capital on Wednesday and also to push their reform demands, New Age reported from Dhaka.
In the capital, picketers damaged some vehicles, set fire to a CNG-run taxicab and exploded crackers during the shutdown.
Police, in riot gear, foiled attempts by opposition activists to bring out processions at a number of places including Jurain, Mohakhali, Pallabi, Dhanmondi and Motijheel during the hartal hours.
Whenever the opposition activists tried to bring out a procession, the police promptly intercepted and dispersed demonstrators by charging batons.
The situation turned worse when the opposition activists hurled two cocktails at the police leaving two constables injured. But a sudden cloudburst drove both the crowd and the police away.
Traffic was very thin in the capital and markets, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed during the shutdown.
Inter-district buses remained off the road. However, rail and river communications and flight operations from Zia International Airport were normal during the hartal hours, said officials at Sadarghat terminal, Kamalapur railway station and Zia International Airport.
Meanwhile, the shutdown passed off peacefully in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Moulvibazar, Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Kishoreganj, Netrakona, Gazipur, Comilla, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Kushtia, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Barguna, Jhalakati, Rangpur, Bogra and Rangpur.
