BNP calls hartal for today
Vehicles torched in city, party activists clash with police, hundreds arrested
Courtesy New age 30/11/10 Staff Correspondent
Explosion of cocktails and attacks on vehicles were reported from different areas of the city on Monday evening as the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party will enforce a dawn-to-dusk general strike today. 
Over 500 BNP leaders and activists were injured in clashes with the law enforcers during the pre-hartal rallies and processions across the country on the day.
Activists of the ruling Awami League also clashed with BNP men who took to the streets to drum up support for today's strike.
The BNP claimed that police in special drives had arrested about 1300 people, including 350 in the capital, in 24 hours till Monday evening raising the number of detainees to 1,200 since the drive was launched on Friday in a pre-emptive move to prevent vandalism.
A BNP release said vehicles of media, ambulance, vehicles carrying physicians and bodies, and emergency services like fire service and water, power and gas supply will be out of the purview of the strike from 6:00am to 6:00pm.
Students in different parts of the city were forced to attend human chains formed against hartal on important city roads suspending their classes. Fearing vandalism on the streets, a large number of vehicles kept off the roads on Monday evening.
The BNP has made all preparations to enforce the strike while the government has warned it would deal with a `heavy hand' any attempts to unleash `anarchy' in the name of general strike.
The state minister for law, Quamrul Islam, at a discussion meeting at Jatiya Press Club on Monday said that the activists of Awami League would remain on the streets during hartal hours although the party general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, had earlier said that they had no plan to counter the opposition's strike.
Some lawmakers of Dhaka verbally asked authorities of different schools to take classes today.
A 12,000-strong police force will be deployed in the capital to maintain law and order during the strike.
Large contingents of law enforcers were already deployed in different parts of the city on Monday as elsewhere in the country `to prevent vandalism'.
The BNP announced the general strike at the chairperson Gulshan office on November 22 as part of its six-day long programmes to register protest against eviction of the party chairperson Khaleda Zia `illegally' from the cantonment house, `conspiracies' to destroy the military, wholesale politicisation of administration and judiciary, `anti-state' deals, crises of gas, water and power, price hike of essentials, law and order slide and `repression' on opposition activists. All components of the BNP-led four-party alliance, still struggling to recover from its debacle in the last general election, and other like-minded smaller parties have extended their support to the general strike and vowed to remain on the streets during the strike hours.
The party sources said activists led by senior leaders would picket at 30 spots in the capital during the strike hours. Members on the BNP standing committee, chairperson's advisers, vice-chairmen and joint secretaries general would lead the teams. Party chairperson Khaleda Zia will monitor the situation during the strike.
In the capital, crackers were exploded on Dhaka University campus, and at least nine vehicles were damaged and set on fire on Monday evening.
A taxicab was torched on New Elephant Road in the city. At Khilkhet, miscreants set fire to another black taxicab in the evening. Nobody was hurt in the two incidents, police said. Besides, a group of people set a bus on fire near Mirpur-10 intersection.
The BNP's joint secretary general, Rizvi Ahmed, at a briefing in the night blamed the government for the violence. `They are inciting all these and shifting the blame on the BNP,' he said.
As part of BNP's hartal preparations, its front organisations held rallies, processions and distributed leaflets in favour of the strike across the country while police started raiding their homes since Friday night.
Sources said police had picked up 15 activists of BNP, including the city's ward 56 councillor MA Hannan, in front of the party's central office at Naya Paltan when the party activists tried to bring out a procession.
New Age staff correspondent in Chittagong reports: Activists of BNP on Monday evening brought out a procession in the city after holding a rally in front of its office at Nasimon Bhaban in the port city's Nur Ahmed Road.
Pro-BNP lawyers also brought out a procession on the Chittagong Court building premises in support of today's hartal.
Supporters of Awami League held rallies and processions at GEC crossing and Zilla Parishad square on Monday afternoon to campaign against the hartal.
In Sylhet, police charged batons on the rallies and processions of BNP and its front organisations on Monday leaving at least 25 people, including four leaders of the party's Sylhet chapter, injured.
BNP activists vandalised at least 20 vehicles at different places in the city, local sources said.
New Age correspondent in Faridpur said at least 19 BNP leaders and activists were arrested in different upazilas of the district on Sunday night.
In Pabna, police arrested 10 BNP leaders and activists in Chatmohar, Bhangura and Sujanagar upazilas on Monday.
New Age Tangail correspondent reported that the police had arrested 12 BNP leader and activists on Monday.
Our Sirajganj correspondent said that the police had arrested about 15 people in 24 hours in sadar, Ullapara and Shahjadpur upazilas till Monday afternoon.
New Age Munshiganj correspondent said the district unit of BNP had held a rally at Munshiganj town in support of Tuesday's general strike.
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