DHAKA: Violent clashes broke out between Bangladeshi security forces and opposition activists on Tuesday during a 48-hour nationwide general strike called by Bangladesh’s largest Islamic party to protest a court verdict cancelling its registration with the election commission.
Several thousand supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami party took to the streets on Tuesday in Meherpur district, 176 kilometers (110 miles) west of Dhaka, and exploded crude bombs, blocked roads and burned vehicles to enforce the general strike.
At least 20 people were injured after police fired rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, the private television station ETV reported.
Moreover, home-made bombs went off in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country, injuring another 30 persons, the station said.
The court order banning the party came after its top leaders were sentenced by a War Crimes Tribunal set up to look into atrocities committed during the country’s war of independence.
