The main opposition Awami League (AL), Communist Party of Bangladesh, Workers Party and Jatiya Samjtantrik Dal of Hasanul Haq Inu will stage the 6:00am to 6:00pm shutdown to protest the stabbing of eminent writer Humayun Azad, alleging communal forces in the life-threatening attack.

The author of over 50 books, the latest against fundamentalists, is now being treated at the Combined Military Hospital for head and jaw wounds he suffered in the February 27 machete attack.

A left-leaning party, Samyabadi Dal, yesterday expressed solidarity with other parties on the strike call.

The parties that announced the hartal from meetings at their offices on March 1 also demanded immediate resignation of the 28-month-old government, accusing it of failure to curb law and order downslide, corruption and price hike of essentials.

Saturday's will be the fifth in a series of shutdowns called by the AL and one of its front organisations since February 12.

The AL views Saturday's simultaneous programmes as a step towards forming a common platform in the anti-government movement that the BNP described as a trigger in chaos.

"A simultaneous movement against the BNP-Jamaat coalition will begin with the dawn-to-dusk hartal. It's the beginning of forcing the alliance out of office through a united move of all progressive and pro-liberation democratic forces," AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil said.

"There might be talks with former president Badruddoza Chowdhury as well, if he forms a political party. We cannot talk to a person but a party, which is progressive and pro-liberation," he said.