The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party observed a general strike yesterday during which police clashed with protestors and eight people were hospitalized, according to opposition party members.

The strike was part of three days of protests that included a rally on Friday in front of BNP headquarters in Naya Paltan, as well as wider protests planned throughout the capital to protest a decision earlier this week by Parliament to split the Dhaka City Corporation into two administrative sections.

Mizra Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a senior BNP leader, told Associated Press that at least eight protesters were injured after police moved to disperse a rally in front of party headquarters yesterday.

“The government has unleashed a reign of terror to frighten opposition activists,” he said yesterday.

He added that as many as 85 opposition activists were arrested on December 3, ahead of the planned general strike.

Under the terms of the legislation, the government will appoint two administrators to run the northern and southern divisions of the city, thereby eliminating the office of the current mayor and administrators elected by a vote of the people.

The split aims to make administration of infrastructure and services in the heavily populated capital more manageable, lawmakers have said.

“The government has struck at the people’s heart with political muscling by dividing the traditional Dhaka City Corporation in two,” BNP member Ruhul Kabir Rizvi told reporters after last week’s vote.

Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka told ucanews.com last week that the decision to split the administration of the city was wrong.

“It’s illogical when the government says the DCC [will be] split to provide better services to city dwellers. A united DCC could have facilitated people better if properly managed.”

But Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina of the ruling Awami League, said those in opposition to the ruling were playing politics.

“The people against the division may have other intentions. In my view, they are against it for the sake of opposition, misleading the people and bringing the development activities of the government into question,” Hasina said during an address to Parliament following passage of the legislation.

Philip Gain, 52, a journalist and executive director of the Society for Environment and Human Development www.sehd.org said the move could shore up political power for the ruling party.

“The government should have taken more time and gone through public consensus before making a final decision. It seems the [new] city corporations will be led by political cadres and they will create trouble for opposition loyalists,” Gain said.

In the lead-up to the vote, which saw the legislation pass after only about four minutes of debate, considerable opposition to the move, led by current DCC Mayor Sadeque Hossein Khoka, has been expressed by critics.

The High Court has also questioned the legality of the move by issuing a ruling on November 30 asking the government to demonstrate that the decision is not unconstitutional.