Everyday life disrupted during Bangladesh strike

DHAKA: Fresh clashes erupted during a strike by Bangladesh’s political opposition Tuesday, confining residents to their homes and leaving them increasingly frustrated with the chaos in the streets.
“We need to go to office, we need to work,” said mobile phone company owner Abdus Salam, who was waiting for a bus in the capital. “The politicians do not think of us, they are obsessed with their own gains.” Extra police and paramilitary guards were on Dhaka streets, and schools and shops were closed, while long-distance public buses stayed off the streets fearing attacks by the protesters. Authorities rescheduled examinations for hundreds of thousands of students. The nationwide strike is meant to force the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit so a neutral caretaker government can be formed to oversee upcoming elections. At least 18 people have been killed since Oct. 26 in the violence stemming from the political crisis.
On Tuesday, opposition activists clashed with police in northwestern district of Rajshahi, leaving at least 25 people injured, Somoy TV station reported. It said three activists were detained.
Separately, ruling Awami League activists clashed with the opposition supporters in central Bangladesh’s Munshiganj district, leaving scores injured, Channel 24 station reported. It said police fired rubber bullets, leaving at least 10 people injured in the area, which is 32 km (20 miles) south of Dhaka.
Local newspapers published blurred photos of people who got burned in arson attacks during strike.
Dhaka’s leading English-language Daily Star newspaper published a story along with such a photo of a teenager, whose most part of the body got burned, with a headline: “In the name of politics, this is what they do to people.” On Monday, the first day of the 60-hour strike, two people died and scores of others were injured as protesters set off homemade bombs and torched cars.
The latest violence comes at a time of deep tension in Bangladesh, a nation struggling to overcome extreme poverty, rancorous politics and a string of horrific accidents linked to the garment industry.