... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ...
(shutdown) in Pabna for Saturday demanding immediate release of Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, personal assistant to party Chairperson
Khaleda ZiaThree-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
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Habibur Rahman Tota, BNP secretary of Pabna unit, announced the hartal in the afternoon after a Dhaka court placed Shimul and four others BNP leaders on eight-day remand in two cases after rejecting their bail petitions.
The five BNP leaders -- MK Anwar, Moudud Ahmed, Rafiqul Islam Miah, Abdul Awal Mintoo and Shimul -- were sued in the cases filed for "attempted murder of cops" and "creating violence" in the capital.
Shimul Biswas, who is from Pabna, was picked up by police on early hours of November 9 along with Mintoo.
District unit of BNP brought a procession in Pabna town today in support of their hartal.