Updated on
Summary Police used water cannon and baton-charged hundreds of supporters of Bangladesh's main opposition party who went on strike today to demand early parliamentary elections to force the ruling party from power
Scores of anti-government protesters were wounded in clashes with police in Bagladesh on Monday. Police used water cannon and baton-charged hundreds of supporters of Bangladeshs main opposition party who went on strike today to demand early parliamentary elections to force the ruling party from power. It was the third general strike staged by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took office in early 2009, to bring forward the date of the 2013 general election. But it is a large-scale challenge by the BNP, emboldened by its success at municipal polls, and adds to the woes of Hasinas government, already struggling with discontent over high prices, lacking public services as well as the crash in the stock market, a main source of income for many in this impoverished country.
