Parbatya Chattogram Nagorik Parishad on Monday called a 32-hour hartal in the district town from Tuesday to press home their seven-point demand including cancellation of Chittagong Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission Act. The hartal will remain in force from 6 am on Tuesday  to 2 pm on Wednesday. Mujibur Rahman, chairman of the executive council of Nagorik Parishad, announced this at a press briefing held at a restaurant in Rangamati town. Processions will be brought out in support of the hartal, he said. Read:BNP supports left alliance’s hartal on Aug 25 Representation from all ethnic groups in the resolution commission, completing land survey before the work of Land Dispute Resolution Commission, introducing the land dispute settlement in CHT according to the existing laws of the country, allowing local administration to settle land disputes and taking steps for rehabilitating individuals if affected while settling the land dispute by the commission were among their demands.

A half-day nationwide strike enforced by the Left Democratic Alliance (LDA) in protest against the rising prices of fuel, fertilizers and daily essentials is underway peacefully. The strike began around 6am on Thursday and will end at 12 noon. Hospitals, hotels, pharmacies and vehicles engaged in providing emergency services have been kept out of the purview of the strike. At a press conference on Wednesday at Mukti Bhaban in the capital, LDA coordinator and CPB General Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince called upon the country’s people to observe the strike with their spontaneous presence on the streets and also to mount pressure on the government to stop the process of increasing the prices of electricity and gas. Also read: BNP supports left alliance’s hartal on Aug 25 Stating that people are going through immense sufferings due to the rise in the prices of fuel and commodities, he warned that LDA will announce bigger programmes in the future if the government does not respond to their demands after the general strike. Earlier on August 16, the LDA called a nationwide half-day strike for August 25. In an abrupt move, the government increased the prices of diesel, octane and petrol by 42.5 per cent, 51.7 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively, on August 5. Currently, diesel is being sold at Tk 114 per litre, octane at Tk 135 per litre and petrol at Tk 130 per litre, pushing up the prices of all essential items. On August 17, the country's main opposition BNP extended its support to the LDA’s strike. Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the announcement at a press conference at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office.    

BNP has shortened their dawn-to-dusk general strike in Bhola by six hours which they called in protest against the death of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) district unit president Noor-e-Alam in a clash between police and supporters of the main opposition party. The party said it has taken the decision considering peoples’ sufferings. BNP senior leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy made the announcement at a press briefing at district party office Thursday noon. Gayeshwar alleged, “We have not seen any punitive measures or any action against police till date unless instruction comes from the upper level of the.” He also demanded compensation for the families of those killed and the injured victims in the clash as well as action against police. After the press conference, the wife and children of slain Swechchasebak Dal leader Abdur Rahim were provided inancial assistance by BNP. Following the announcement, shops opened and traffic movement became normal on the district roads. Till 12pm today, the protesting BNP men staged demonstrations and brought out processions in different parts of the district in a peaceful manner, said BNP’s Bhola unit joint general secretary Humayun Kabir Sopan. Read: JCD leader’s death: BNP observes day-long strike in Bhola Due to the hartal, most shops and business establishments on Mahajanotti Sadar Road and the BNP office area remained shut in the morning. Only a few vehicles were seen plying on the roads in the district. However, long-haul buses were seen plying on the Bhola-Charfashion route. Besides, law enforcers were deployed at some major places of the district town to avoid any untoward situation. Noor-e-Alam sustained bullet wounds during the clash with the police on Sunday. Humayun said that Noor-e- Alam was taken to Comfort Hospital in the capital on the same day, where he succumbed to his injuries around 3.15pm on Wednesday. He had been on life support at the hospital. As part of BNP’s countrywide demonstration programme protesting the ongoing load shedding and mismanagement in the power sector, the leaders and activists of the party gathered in front of their district party office in Bhola on Sunday. At one stage, police obstructed them when they tried to stage demonstrations at Kalinath Roy Bazar around 11.30am, triggering a clash. Later, police fired bullets and lobbed teargas shells that left local Swechchasebak Dal leader Abdur Rahim dead and some other leaders and activists of the party injured.

Bhola unit BNP has called a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the district for Thursday protesting the death of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) district unit president Nure Alam in a clash between police and BNP men. The strike will be observed from 6am to 6pm in the district on the day, BNP’s Bhola unit Joint General Secretary Humayun Kabir Sopan told UNB on Wednesday. Nure Alam suffereded bullet wounds during a clash with police on Sunday. Read: Bhola BNP-Cops clash: Injured JCD leader dies in Dhaka Humayun Kabir said Nure Alam was taken to Comfort Diagnostic Centre in the capital on the same day where he succumbed to his injures around 3:15 pm Wednesday. He had been on life support at the hospital. As part of BNP’s countrywide demonstration programme protesting the ongoing load shedding and mismanagement in the power sector, the leaders and activists of the party gathered in front of their district party office in Bhola on Sunday. At one stage, police obstructed them when they tried to stage demonstrations at Kalinath Roy Bazar around 11:30 am, triggering a clash. Later, police fired bullets and lobbed teargas shells that left local Swechchasebak Dal leader Abdur Rahim dead and some other leaders and activists of the party injured.

Ten leaders and activists of Left Democratic Alliance (LDA) were injured in a clash with police at Chashara Golchattar in Narayanganj district on Monday during the half-day nationwide hartal protesting price hike of essentials. Witnesses said the leaders and activists of LDA brought out a procession from No 2 Railgate area of the city. When the procession reached near Chashara Golchattar police obstructed them and charged baton to disperse them, triggering a clash. Ten people were injured in the clash.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Thursday warned against creating any violence during the hartal called for March 28 against price hike of essentials. Kamal was responding to a reporter's question after inaugurating Police Liberation War Museum set up by Chattogram Metropolitan Police at Dampara.

Left Democratic Alliance on Friday called a nationwide half-day hartal (general strike) on March 28 protesting the increasing prices of utility services and daily commodities such as edible oil, rice, lentils and onion. The strike will be observed from 6am-12pm around the country on the day. Leaders of the Left Alliance announced the programme at a press conference at Mukti Bhavan in Purana Paltan at 11 am. Read: Price hike: JaPa threatens to wage a movement They urged all to join the movement for the sake of their own survival. They demanded for strict action against hoarders, warehouse keepers and traders to break the syndicate as well as introducing rationing systems for the poor in rural and urban areas. The alliance also demanded the withdrawal of a decision to hike the prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Besides, they urged to increase surveillance and supervision in the markets ensuring proper distribution of essential food items.

A six-hour hartal called by the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council in protest against an attack on a Durga Puja pandal, began in the port city on Saturday. No untoward incident was reported till the filing this report at 9.30am. The Council on Friday called for a half-day hartal in the port city to protest against the attack on JM Sen Hall Puja pandal in the Andarkilla area of Chattogram district earlier in the day. In protest against the attack by a group of miscreants, the Council had also briefly deferred the immersion of idols in Chattogram. Ashish Kumar Bhattacharya, president of the Chattogram Metropolitan Puja Celebration Committee, told UNB that they had withdrawn their decision to suspend the immersion of idols upon assurance of safety from the local administration. Also read: “Desecration of holy Quran” in Cumilla, govt urges calm All hell broke loose after Jum’a prayers on Friday when demonstrators marched into the Andarkilla temple and vandalised it in the presence of the law enforcers, Ashish claimed. However, police said they had quickly brought the situation under control following a clash with the demonstrators, which left several people injured, including cops. Also read: Mandap attack: Half-day hartal called in Ctg for Saturday When contacted, senior police officials declined to comment.

At least 25 people including seven policemen were injured Sunday in clashes between hartal supporters and the law enforcers in Habiganj and Sylhet during the nationwide hartal enforced by Hefajat-e-Islam. Hefajat called the general strike protesting the killing of its activists and the "attack on them by ruling party men" Friday during anti-Modi demonstrations in Dhaka, Chattogram and other districts. In Habiganj's Ajmiriganj upazila, picketers locked into an argument with policemen as they were conducting patrols. At one stage, hundreds of villagers and Hefajat supporters started attacking law enforcers with domestic weapons and brick chips, the locals said. Also read: Hefazat’s day-long hartal ends amid violence, clashes Seven policemen including Ajmiriganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Nurul Islam were injured in the clash. The hartal supporters also vandalised a pick-up van and torched two motorcycles of police. To take control of the situation, police fired 33 rounds of rubber bullets and hurdled brick chips towards the protesters.   OC Nurul Islam said, "Calm prevails now. However, additional law enforcers have been deployed at the spot. Of the seven injured policemen, sub-inspectors Polwel and Mujibur were admitted to the local hospital." Also read: Hartal: 30 hurt during clash with cops in Narayanganj Meanwhile, four teenagers were detained from Sylhet city during a clash between Hefajat activists and Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) men. Five including two BCL men were "injured in the clash," Sylhet Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Ajbahar Ali Sheikh said.

The nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal, enforced by Hefajat-e-Islam, passed off on Sunday amid sporadic incidents of clashes, vandalism, arson attacks and roads blockades at different parts of the country. However, the hartal that began around 6am and ended at 6pm had little impact on the everyday life of people in the capital, except the low presence of public vehicles on the city streets. Rickshaws dominated the streets of the capital as usual. A large number of law enforcers remained deployed at important city points to fend off any trouble. Only a few long-distance buses left Dhaka for different districts while the train service was normal with poor presence of passengers. Hefazat activists brought out processions in the capital's different areas, including Jatrabari, Paltan, Baitul Mukarram, Lalbagh, Mohammadpur and Basila, in support of the shutdown. Hefazat activists blocked Jatrabari and Signboard in the morning setting fire to tyres.