DHAKA, Aug 30: Shops, schools, offices and businesses across Bangladesh were shut on Monday for the fourth time in a week as a dawn-to-dusk strike called by the opposition in protest against a deadly grenade attack ended peacefully.
Dhaka's usually crowded streets were almost deserted until dusk, except for a few cycle rickshaws and police vehicles. One person has died and more than 330 people have been injured in opposition protests since the grenade attack nine days ago on a rally being addressed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League.
Nineteen people were killed and more than 150 wounded when at least seven grenades were thrown at the rally, sparking nation wide political turmoil. A shaken Hasina, the president of the Awami League, escaped unhurt, though her hearing was briefly impaired.
In the latest strike, there were no reports of serious violence or injuries, although both the Awami League and the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) held protests and rallies.
For the past seven days, there has been little business or official work done in Bangladesh after opposition strikes shut down the country on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Friday is a holiday in the country and Thursday a half holiday.
GHOST TOWN: Over the past week, Dhaka, a city of over 10 million people, has at times looked like a ghost town. The BNP and its ally in the ruling coalition, the Jamaat-i-Islami, held large rallies protesting against the grenade attack as well as the continued opposition strikes.
"If the elections are held tomorrow, we will again win," Abdul Mannan Bhuian, BNP secretary general, told a rally of about 20,000 cheering supporters in the capital. -Reuters
