The World - News from April 13, 1988

President Hussain Mohammed Ershad lifted the state of emergency that he imposed on Bangladesh in November at the height of an opposition campaign to topple him. Information Minister Mahbubur Rahman said the nation has returned to normal after a violence-marred election March 3. However, the 21-party opposition alliance called the move cosmetic and vowed to continue a campaign of strikes and protests to force the 58-year-old former army general to resign. Sheik Hasina Wajed, leader of the opposition Awami League, charged that Ershad ended the emergency to forestall criticism at a meeting of Bangladesh’s Western aid donors in Paris on Thursday. Bangladesh is seeking $2.2 billion in aid.