Nationwide general strike paralyses Bangladesh


.DHAKA FES71
Dhaka, Nov 3 (PTI) Normal life came to a grinding halt across Bangladesh today due to a nationwide general strike called by main opposition party Awami League to protest a court verdict acquitting five politicians in the killing of four leaders in a 29-year-old case.
Security was tightened for the eight-hour strike with at least 5,000 riot police deployed in capital Dhaka amid demonstrations and scattered picketings by League activists. No incidents of violence were reported, police said.

Streets in Dhaka and other major cities were largely deserted and most shops, schools and private offices across the country were closed. However, some taxis and state-run buses were seen plying on the roads in Dhaka.

According to some reports, police in riot gear encircled the headquarters of Awami League in Dhaka, stopping the leaders and activists from coming out to take out a demonstration.

The strike coincides with the annual mourning by Awami League for the four leaders killed inside the Dhaka Central Jail on this day in 1975 after series of coups and counter coups following the slaying of the nation's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Black flags were put up at the party's main office in downtown Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and the business community in the country had appealed to the League to not to go ahead with its strike, saying talks were the only solution to resolve political problems.

A Dhaka court had on October 20 sentenced three former Army officers to death for murdering the four leaders and acquitted five prominent politicians in the case. PTI

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