AL's 12-hour hartal today
Ballot rigging added to issues
Staff Correspondent
Awami League enforces a dawn-to-dusk countrywide hartal today to protest what it said was unprecedented rigging in Thursday's by-polls in Dhaka-10, bomb blast at a meeting of Suranjit Sengupta in Sunamganj, murder of a Khulna editor and killing of policemen by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal cadres in the capital.However, to facilitate smooth filing of nomination papers by intending candidates to Gazipur-2 parliamentary by-election billed for August 1, the major opposition party has kept Gazipur Sadar and Tongi areas out of the hartal's purview. The hartal decision was taken at an urgent meeting of AL's Working Committee at the party's Dhanmondi office on June 22 with Sheikh Hasina in the chair. The party later added the issue of Thursday's vote rigging as a point to intensify its shutdown call. Earlier, AL had directed two of its front organisations to withdraw their hartal on June 30 and enforce it on July 3. To drum up support for today's hartal, different AL front organisations yesterday brought out processions in the city's Muktangan and Bangabandhu Avenue areas amidst strong police resistance.
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