Normal life was affected in Bangladesh today due to a countrywide dawn to dusk hartal called by the main opposition party the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Most of the shops, schools, and business establishments remained closed. Traffic on the roads was also minimal with only a few auto-rickshaws and minis buses seen plying on the streets. Stray incidents of violence were reported in different areas of Dhaka city and other parts in the country following clashes between BNP workers and police. Talking to reporters in the evening at Dhaka, the BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hussein claimed that the strike was successful and alleged that more than 500 party activists were arrested by police during the strike. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who chaired a weekly cabinet meeting today in Dhaka, criticized the BNP for enforcing the “issueless” hartal when the entire nation was involved in massive preparations to host the Cricket World Cup. Earlier yesterday, miscreants set fire to ten vehicles, mostly buses in different parts of Dhaka city while two students were injured in a minor bomb blast in the Dhaka university campus area. The BNP had called for the strike in protest against the alleged false cases against party chief Begum Khaleda Zia and harassment of party leaders, soaring prices of essentials and to punish those responsible for the recent stock market crashes.