Dhaka, Dec. 14 -- Bangladesh's major political parties pledge to stay united against a "coordinated bid" to jeopardize the July uprising and jointly protest the shooting of an activist and prospective independent election candidate, Sharif Osman Hadi.

Leaders from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizens Party (NCP) swore the solidarity pledge at a meeting chaired by interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus at the state guesthouse Jamuna in Dhaka, a day after the daring daylight gun attack.

They said the attack on Hadi, a spokesperson for the pro-uprising Inqilab Mancha platform and a likely candidate from the Dhaka-8 constituency for the upcoming general election, was part of a "wider c...