Opposition strike continues to cripple Bangladesh

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A general strike shuttered schools and businesses and disrupted transportation for a second day Thursday in cities across Bangladesh. Opposition parties called the strike to protest a constitutional amendment they say will allow incumbents to rig elections.

In the capital of Dhaka, about 12,000 security officials were deployed on the streets. Opposition lawmakers demonstrated near Parliament on Thursday while police cordoned off the headquarters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Clashes between protesters and police were reported in various parts of the country after the 48-hour strike began Wednesday.

A general strike is a common opposition tactic to embarrass the government in Bangladesh, a fragile parliamentary democracy that has a history of two successful and 19 failed military coups since 1971, when the country won independence from Pakistan.

The action is being backed by Zia's opposition allies against the government of her longtime rival, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

In the capital, Dhaka, police scuffled Wednesday with some opposition lawmakers near Parliament. Zainal Abdin Farooque, chief whip of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was hospitalized with a head injury.

On Thursday, his party demanded investigation into the violence.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun regretted the incident and promised to punish any police officials found doing anything wrong.

Media reports said dozens of people including some police were injured in scattered clashes across the country on Thursday. Police arrested a man when he allegedly tried to set a bus on fire in Dhaka's Mirpur area.

Zia's party's key partner, Jamaat-e-Islami, and a number of smaller Islamic parties are backing the strike.

The opposition parties say they will go for tougher anti-government moves, saying authorities are using force to handle the protests.

The government denies the allegation and says it will do whatever needed to protect the people's property.

The constitutional change passed by Parliament last week removed a 15-year-old requirement that general elections be overseen by a nonpartisan caretaker government after the end of an administration's five-year term.

The country's political situation was further complicated Sunday when a court ordered the arrest of Zia's son, Tarique Rahman, after police charged him with organizing a grenade attack on an opposition rally in 2004.

The attack killed 24 supporters of then-opposition leader Sheikh Hasina. Hasina was unhurt when more than two dozen grenades ripped through the rally as she was speaking. Zia was prime minister at the time.

Investigators say Zia's son Rahman, a senior official in her party, planned the attack to eliminate political opponents. Zia's party denies the allegation.

Rahman has been living in London since 2008. He also faces several corruption charges.

Last month, another court in Dhaka sentenced Arafat Rahman, Zia's younger son, to six years in jail for laundering money taken as bribes from two global companies. The second son was tried in absentia and was found guilty of smuggling more than 200 million takas ($2.66 million) to Singapore.