A half-day hartal by a citizens’ pressure group was observed partially in the capital on Monday in protest against the government’s decision to lease out three gas blocks to international oil giants. Local units of the group also staged demonstrations in different districts as a part of the programme.

The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port, backed by a section of left-leaning political parties, enforced the 6:00am-12:00 noon hartal – the first since the Awami League-led alliance government assumed office in January. The committee gave the government a fresh one-month ultimatum to fulfil its five-point charter of demands, including punishment of the persons responsible for the police attack on its activists on September 2.

The government on August 24 approved oil and gas exploration deals with US ConocoPhillips and Ireland’s Tullow Oil Ltd in three offshore blocks. The police beat up protesters, including the committee’s member-secretary professor Anu Muhammad, on September 2 when they were marching towards the headquarters of the state-owned Petrobangla.

Pro-hartal pickets started assembling at Purana Paltan, Shahbagh, Mirpur section 10, Asad Gate, Science Laboratory crossing, Plassey crossing, Malibagh, Shanir Akhra, Jatrabari, Bahadur Shah Park and Sadarghat from early in the morning. They held rallies and brought out processions asking the city dwellers to observe the hartal. Police set up barricades at all approaches to Purana Paltan and Shahbagh intersections and the Dhaka University area and diverted traffic elsewhere.

Attendance at government and private offices, including the secretariat, was thin in the morning and the number of visitors to the administrative headquarters was remarkably low. Most of the educational institutions remained closed. Banks operated covertly keeping only their back doors open and the city malls started business late. Tarffic was thin during the hartal hours as s few public and private buses plied the city roads while the number of cars was very low. Rickshaws plied the roads without major disruptions. Inter-district buses delayed their journey from Gabtoli, Mahakhali and Sayedabad terminals due to shortage of passengers. Trains, however, left the city on time.

Protesters picketed Purana Paltan area till noon. Mujahidul Islam Selim, MM Akash, Morshed Ali and Ruhin Hossain Prince of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Khalequzzaman, Bazlur Rashid Firoj and Razequzzaman Ratan of Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, Tipu Biswas of Jatiya Gana Front, Abdus Salam of Ganatantrik Majdur Party, Saiful Huq of Revolutionary Workers Party, Mushrefa Mishu of Democratic Revolutionary Party, Haider Akbar Khan Rano and Azizur Rahman of Workers Party (reconstituted), and Zonayed Saki of Ganasanghati Andolan led processions of respective organisations in the Paltan area.

The national committee convener Sheikh Muhammad Shaheedullah led a separate procession. Cultural organisation Udichi Shilpi Gosthi entertained crowds at the intersection in the midst of rallies and processions. Pickets damaged two buses in front of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and beside the National Museum at around 7:00am prompting police to divert traffic from Sheraton, Matsya Bhaban and Kantaban crossings. Progressive Student Alliance held a rally in front of Aparajeya Bangla at Dhaka University expressing solidarity with the movement of the national committee. The protesters also burned copies of Bengali dailies Prothom Alo and Amader Samay at different places denouncing what they called their editorial stance against the movement to protect national resources.

Deputy commissioner of Ramna zone, Atiqul Islam termed peaceful the situation during the hartal hours. ‘Law and order was totally under control… No violent incidents took place in the capital,’ he said. After the end of the hartal, the national committee held a rally at Muktangan and asked the government to fulfil its five-point charter of demands by October 15. ‘We give the government until October 15 to meet our five-point charter of demands, or on October 16, the committee will call a national conference to decide tougher action programmes, including hartals and siege,’ Sheikh Muhammad Shaheedullah told the rally.

The five-point charter of demands includes cancellation of the model oil-gas distribution contract 2008, cancellation of the proposed lease of three offshore blocks to foreign firms, formulation of a new model production-sharing contract ensuring 100 percent public ownership, full implementation of the Phulbari agreement 2006 and punishment of those responsible for the attack on Anu Muhammad and others on September 2.

The committee will continue its campaign till October 15 to garner support for the demands. The national committee also staged demonstrations in divisional and district headquarters, including Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal, Sylhet and Rangpur. Some 50 people under the banner of the national committee brought out a procession and staged protest in front of the DC office in Barisal. In Khulna, the national committee brought out a procession from Shaheed Hadis park and paraded the city roads. The Rangpur district unit of the national committee held a rally and brought out a procession from the local press club vowing to continue the movement until demands were fulfilled.

-New Age

Relaxed hartal in city

The Indepedent: The committee called the hartal to press for its five-point demand including cancellation of the agreement on awarding three offshore gas blocks to foreign oil companies and in protest against police action on its procession that left its member secretary Prof Anu Muhammad and others injured.

The half-day hartal called ended yesterday with some stray incidents of damaging some vehicles including two buses in the city by the activists. Earlier, the capital witnessed a relaxed half-day hartal with little impact on the city life. The city-dwellers rather saw an easy traffic movement during the hartal hours from 6 am to 12 noon at the city's most busy intersections and areas like Motijheel, Dilkusha, Shapla square, Dainik Bangla intersection, Gulistan, Syed Nazrul Islam Sarani, Topkhana Road, Jatrabari, Syedabad, Shahbagh, Farm Gate, Nakhalpara, Mahakhali, Biswaroad intersection, Rampura, Mogbazar, Mirpur and other important areas.

In an ultimatum to the government, the National Committee demanded meeting its demand by October 15. Otherwise, it threatened that a tough action programme would be announced from a national conference to be convened in the city the next day on October 16. Addressing a post-hartal rally at Paltan intersection at 12 noon, the National Committee convener Engineer Sheikh Mohammad Shahidullah said, "We are giving ultimatum to the government to meet our five-point demand by October 15. Otherwise, our committee will convene a national conference on October 16 and a tough action programme will be announced from that conference."

The other demands of the National Committee include full implementation of the Phulbari Accord-2006, cancellation of the model of the oil-gas distribution agreements, formulation of a new model of production-sharing contract ensuring 100 percent public ownership and punishment for those responsible for the attack on the member secretary of the committee Prof Anu Muhammad and others. Rickshaws and other three-wheelers plied the city streets as usual while motorised road transport also operated on different city routes as the day progressed with private cars following the suit.

However, the hartal was observed in the areas between Paltan and Noor Hossain Square, Bjoy Nagar and in front of the office of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) at Purana Paltan as the activists of the national committee were found enforcing the hartal there since early morning. Some leaders and activists of the National Committee carrying banners and placards paraded the streets around Paltan intersection, Dainik Bangla intersection and Shahbagh areas to drum support for the hartal. Police blocked movement of vehicles on the road between Noor Hossain Square and the Paltan intersection and diverted operation of vehicles through Abdul Ghani Road during the hartal hours.

Some student activists of the left-leaning parties damaged two buses at Shahbagh intersection in the morning and they set on fire to several copies of the daily Prothom Alo and the daily Amader Somoy accusing these newspapers of serving the purpose of imperialist powers and giving wrong information about their hartal programme. The pro-hartal activists also damaged a number of rickshaws at Paltan intersection, Bijoy Nagar areas. The government on Aug 24 approved offshore oil and gas exploration deals with US company ConocoPhillips and Ireland's Tullow Oil Ltd on three sea blocks of the resource-rich Bay. A total of 1,650 policemen including armed battalion were deployed at different strategic points in the city to maintain law and order during the hartal hours, according to an official of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Hartal, loosely enforced, ends with ultimatum

bdnews: A half-day hartal in capital Dhaka, the first in nearly three years, ended at midday on Monday, having been loosely enforced by a citizen's pressure group. The National Committee on Protection of Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Port and Power ended the general strike with an ultimatum to the government.

The committee called the hartal protesting the government's recently announced gas exploration deals with international companies. Sheikh Mohammad Shahidullah, convener of the citizen's pressure group, declared the strike terminated at Paltan intersection at noon. "The government is hereby given up to October 15 to meet our five-point charter of demands, or the committee will call for a national conference on Oct 16," said Shahidullah. The national conference will decide further rigid programmes such as rallies, hartals, he said.

The five-point charter of demands includes the cancellation of the model oil-gas distribution agreements, cancellation of leases given to two foreign firms for three offshore blocks, formulation of new model production-sharing contract ensuring 100 percent public ownership, full implementation of Phulbari Agreement 2006 and punishment to the attackers of member secretary Anu Muhammad and others.

The hartal was enforced most strictly in the area between Paltan and Shahbagh with strong picketing. Student activists of left-leaning political organisations vandalised two buses in the morning at Shahbagh intersection. Police kept all approaches barricaded to the Paltan and Shahbagh intersections and only rickshaws plied. Vehicles were thin on the Airport Road during the hartal hours. Most educational institutions remained closed due to the strike, and office goers made arrangements other than cars to get to work, emptying the streets of traffic.

Unlike most weekdays, the Biswa Road intersection, Mohakhali, Amtali and the road in front of the prime minister's office was free of usual gridlock. The activists had assembled at Paltan intersection at 6am. Cultural activists of Udichi Shilpa Gosthi performed at the intersection in the midst of rallying and marching of processions. Traffic movement eased around Shahbagh as pro-left student activists proceeded towards Muktangan from Shahbagh at 10:30am. An organiser said the general strike was enforced in the national interest to protect public property.

"We are not enforcing the strike to wrest power from the government. We have assured the nation that we will not abuse the strike," Mujahidul Islam Selim, one of the main organisers, told bdnews24.com in the Paltan intersection. The government on Aug 24 approved offshore oil and gas exploration deals with US company ConocoPhillips and Ireland's Tullow Oil Ltd in three sea blocks of the resource-rich Bay.

The pressure group, and left parties, say a provision in the off-shore deals allows the foreign companies to export up to 80 percent of extracted gas, which constitutes a threat to the energy security of Bangladesh. Monday's strike also protested what the committee said was an "unwarranted police attack" on its members, including member secretary professor Anu Muhammad, on Sep 2 when its supporters were on way to besiege the headquarters of Petrobangla, the state-owned exploration authority.

Hartal passes off peacefully: Ultimatum to meet demands

The New Nation: The half-day hartal called by the National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas Mineral Resources, Power and Ports passed off peacefully in the city excepting some stray incidents. Traffic movement at some places in the city was partially disrupted and some vehicles were damaged by pro-hartal elements during the period.

The activists of the national committee brought out small processions in support of their programme. The areas where the supporters were active include Topkhana Road, Shahbagh, Shamoly and Mirpur. The six-hour hartal was called to protest against the gas-exploration deals with foreign companies in the Bay of Bengal and attacks on its activists and leaders by police during a demonstration on September 2.

Addressing the street rallies at different places during the hartal, the organisers renewed their pledge to resist any government move to lease out onshore and offshore gas blocks to foreign companies. Engineer Shahidulalh, convener of the national committee gave an ultimatum to the government to retreat from its move to award three blocks to two foreign companies by October 15 or to face tougher movement in future.

If the demand is not met within the deadline, the committee would announce fresh agitation programme by holding a convention of the national committee on October 16, he said. Most of the offices and business establishments remained open as usual and traffic movement on the street was normal. Additional police were deployed at different strategic points in the city during hartal hours. It was the first work stoppage programme since Awami League-led grand alliance assumed power early this year.

The grand alliance had enforced a countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal on December 21, 2006 as part its joint movement to resist any blueprint election. In the city, the pro-hartal elements mainly thronged at Topkhana Road and brought out processions in the area. No traffic movement was found at the Topkhana Road, Paltan and adjacent areas till the end hartal hours. A procession was brought out at Mirpur-10 crossing in the morning. Traffic movement at Shahbag remained suspended till 10:00am following vandalism of some vehicles by pro-hartal elements.

Hartal fails to impact on city life

The Daily Star: The half-day hartal, called by the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports in the capital yesterday, passed off peacefully and without much of an impact on normal public life. The committee however issued an ultimatum to the government to meet their demands by October 15 or they would announce next course of action from their national convention on October 16.

Engineer Mohammad Shahidullah, convener of the protection committee, spoke about the action programme at a hartal-hour rally at Paltan. The 6:00am to 12:00noon shutdown was called to press the government to retract from awarding three offshore gas exploration deals to two foreign companies with what they claim was the provision of up to 80 per cent gas export.

A few activists of the national committee set several copies of the daily Prothom Alo and the daily Amader Somoy on fire at Shahbagh for publishing "misleading" information about yesterday's hartal programme. Several copies of the daily Prothom Alo were also burnt down at Paltan. Udichi activists held cultural programmes supportive of the strike at the intersection in the midst of rallying and marching of processions.

The hartal was apparently restricted to Paltan, Dainik Bangla, Zero Point, Jatiya Press Club, Bijoynagar areas as police kept barricaded all the approaches to the areas, diverting transport movements to other routes to avoid any unwarranted incident. Earlier in the morning, hundreds of leaders and activists of the committee holding banners, placards and festoons in their hands brought out processions parading the main city thoroughfares including Paltan, Jatiya Press Club, Dainik Bangla and Shahbagh areas. The law enforcers restricted transport movements in the aforesaid areas at around 7:30am when some of the hartal pickets threw brick chips at several running vehicles.

Traffic movement was also halted for some time in the morning at Shahbagh intersection as hartal pickets ransacked several running vehicles and tried to barricade the road with barbed wire fences kept by the side of the road. However, the demonstrators proceeded towards Muktangan from Shahbagh at around 10:30am and then traffic movement eased around Shahbagh.

The usual traffic gridlocks seemed comparatively eased in the morning as less number of private cars rolled out on the streets. Movement of both the motorised and non-motorised vehicles was usual. Government and private offices functioned as usual and business establishments and shopping malls in the city remained open during the general strike, the first in nearly three years.

Main opposition BNP extended its 'moral support' to yesterday's shutdown call while two of the government allies -- Workers Party and Samyabadi Dal -- who have representations in the oil, gas protection committee, preferred not to support the strike. Huge contingent of forces from different law enforcement and intelligence agencies were deployed at different points of the city.