Dhaka - Hundreds of activists from Bangladesh's leading opposition party embarked on a hunger strike in the midst of a crowded rally in central Dhaka Monday, demanding the release of jailed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina, the elder daughter of Bangladesh's founding president, has been in jailed for nearly a year following her conviction for multiple counts of graft and extortion.

Officials and witnesses said the hunger strikers, who staged the symbolic abstinence from food and water for eight hours, made a strong plea for Hasina's freedom ahead of the lifting of the state of emergency clamped across the country in January 2007.

The emergency rule which prohibits public protest has been apparently relaxed to accommodate the requests by human rights groups and civic bodies who fear delays in holding general elections can impede the progress of the fragile democracy.

Hasina steered the Awami League to victory in national polls in 2001, installing secular rule for a five-year term in the moderate Muslim country.

"A free and credible election is not possible under an emergency which bans free speech," said former justice minister and leading jurist Kamal Hossain.

Some analysts have suggested the state of emergency should be withdrawn immediately to accommodate crucial parliamentary polls scheduled for December.

Hossain, who leads a splinter secular group, has said the charges against Hasina are politically inspired to tarnish her public image.

President Iajuddin Ahmad appointed an interim government backed by the military at the height of bloody political turmoil created by a standoff between Hasina and her main rival, Khaleda Zia, also a former Bangladeshi prime minister. (dpa)