In Bangladesh, a 30 hour hartal called by a group of 12 Islamic parties is underway and will end at noon today. The first day of the hartal on Sunday witnessed violent clashes between activists of the Islamic parties and police which left more than 100 people including 15 police men injured. Activists of the Islamic parties took to the streets and blocked the highways on the outskirts of Dhaka and other parts of the country forcing the police to resort to lathi charge and fire tear gas shells and rubber bullets to disperse the protestors. More than 100 activists of the Islamic parties were also detained following the clashes between police and activists of 12 Islamic parties. The parties are demanding the restoration of the phrase ‘Absolute Faith and Trust in Allah’ in the constitution and scrapping of the National Women’s development policy which they alleged is against the Holy Quran. The main opposition party the BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami have extended support to the shut down programme. More than 10,000 policemen were deployed on the streets of Dhaka to avoid any untoward incidents during the hartal hours.