Normal life has been affected in Bangladesh today due to the eleven hour country wide hartal called by the main opposition party the Bangladesh Nationalist party and its allies. The BNP called for the strike, to protest against the increase in fuel prices, alleged scam in the stock market and the repression of opposition party activists. Most shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed while traffic on the roads in Dhaka is very minimal with most of the local and inter district buses not operating due to the strike. According to local authorities, the operation of trains, motor launch services on river routes and flights was not affected. Twelve mobile courts and nearly 11,000 policemen along with 3,000 Rapid Action Battalion personnel have been deployed in Dhaka city to prevent any untoward incidents during the hartal hours. The hartal which has so far reported to be peaceful is the seventh general strike being enforced by the BNP since the Awami League government came to power more than two years back.