A paralyzing strike ended in Bangladesh on Thursday after the chief election commissioner took a three-month leave in a bid to end a political standoff, AP reported. Most schools and stores reopened and traffic returned to the streets in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, as thousand of activists shifted from blocking traffic and railways to singing and dancing in the center of the city. Despite the end of the protest, at least 50 people were injured when rival political activists clashed in two districts, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported. Thirty people were injured in the coastal district of Cox's Bazar, 296 kilometers (185 miles) south of Dhaka. At least 20 people were hurt in Jamalpur, 144 kilometers (90 miles) north of Dhaka, the report said. A 14-party political alliance had staged the violent nationwide protest strikes _ halting transport and shutting businesses _ to demand the removal of Chief Election Commissioner M.A. Aziz and his three deputies.
