In Bangladesh, the dawn to dusk strike called by the opposition parties led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party witnessed sporadic clashes between Police and BNP leaders and workers. BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia called the countrywide strike to protest against the alleged failure of the Awami league government to improve the supply of gas and power in addition to its repressive and anti democratic policies against the media and opposition party workers and leaders. <br/> <br/>Most of the shops and markets remained closed but many offices and banks remained open. The strike passed off relatively peacefully. Traffic on the roads was quite less with only some buses and rickshaws plying . Local authorities said that rain and air services were normal. More than 150 people of the BNP including some senior leaders were picked up by the Dhaka police during the strike hours.<br/> <br/> BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain claimed at a press briefing at the party’s Naya Paltan central office in Dhaka that the hartal was a success with the people spontaneously supporting it. Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif the Joint general secretary of the Awami league however dismissed the BNP’s claim saying that strike had failed. This is the first country wide strike organized in the country after the Awami league formed the government in January 2009.<br/> The countrywide dawn to dusk strike was a part of a series of protest movements organized by the BNP in the last four month’s against what it calls failures and excesses committed by the Awami league government. Security had been beefed up across the country with more than 10,000 police personnel deployed in Dhaka city alone to prevent any untoward incidents. <br/> <br/> The government’s efforts to ensure that the day passes of peacefully paid off except for some incidents of stone pelting and, vandalizing. Police had to resort to lathi charges and fire tear gas shells in some areas disperse crowds. As a part of its protest programme, the BNP lawmakers are keeping away from the budget session in parliament and the party is taking its agitation to the streets. The party is planning to hold recessions and rallies in all the district headquarters to press for the immediate release of its leaders and workers who have been arrested during the countrywide strike. <br/>