DHAKA, DEC 7: Bangladesh was today gripped by a strike called by the mainstream Opposition against a peace pact signed last week between the government and tribals in southeastern hills.

It was the third anti-government Opposition strike in a week and came amid appeals to defer the action as it coincided with the annual immunization day of 20 million children.

The Christian community also pleaded to defer the strike as it clashed with their weekly church masses in the Christmas season. Because of the action, the immunization drive was extended until Monday, officials said.

Those for and against the strike marched through several parts of Dhaka in the first hours of the action launched at 6 am (2400 GMT), but there were no immediate reports of violence.

``Strike, strike,'' shouted Opposition activists as police followed them in trucks. Some 5,000 policemen have been deployed, security sources said.Some passenger buses, taxis and a large number of rickshaws were operating in Dhaka in defiance of the strike, and thousands of commuters walked to work as Sunday is a working day in predominantly Moslem Bangladesh.

Witnesses said some inter-city buses were also operating. Shops, schools and most businesses were shut. The other strike-hit cities were Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Barisal.

A seven-party Opposition alliance led by former Prime minister Khaleda Zia's main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) called the stoppage, rejecting the landmark peace pact as a ``black treaty.''

The pact was initialled on December 2 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed's government and tribals.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.