Another spell of hartal likely on Nov 5-6

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir are likely to enforce another round of 2-day nonstop hartal if the verdict of a tribunal in the war crimes cases goes against Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali. The International Crimes Tribunal-2 will deliver on Sunday (November 2) its judgment on the trial of war crimes accused Mir Quasem Ali, a policymaker of Jamaat-e-Islami. The party took the decision of calling another spell of 48-hour nationwide shutdown for Wednesday (Nov 5) and Thursday (Nov 6) at an emergency meeting of its highest policy-making body yesterday (Oct 30). Jamaat called a 72-hour nationwide hartal spread into three days protesting capital punishment awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Wednesday (Oct 29) to its Ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami for wartime offences. The 1st day of the 72-hur nationwide general strike ended at 6:00am on Friday. The 2nd round of the current 2-phase strike will begin at 6am on Sunday (Nov 2) and continue until 6am on Tuesday (Nov 4) without any break. If another spell of two-day shutdown is announced after the ICT-2 delivers its verdict on Mir Quasem Ali on Sunday (Nov 2), the current 3-day hartal will, in essence, put the country on a six-day hiatus, according to a private TV channel.