Jamaat\\\'s 1st phase nat\\\'nwide hartal underway

The 1st phase of nationwide 72-hour hartal, called by Jamaat-e-Islami protesting sentence awarded to its Ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami for war crimes, began at 6:00am on Thursday (Oct 30). The 1st phase shutdown will continue till 6:00am on Friday while the second round will begin at 6:00am on Sunday and end at 6:00am on Tuesday. Jamaat announced the 2 rounds of shutdown programmes on Wednesday afternoon, a few minutes after the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 condemned Nizami to death for crimes against humanity committed during Bangladesh’s independence struggles in 1971. In a statement, Jamaat said the government had filed ‘false’ cases against its top leaders, including Nizami, aiming to create a vacuum in the party leadership. The allegations brought against Matiur Rahman Nizami are fabricated, baseless and imaginary, the statement added, according to private TV channels.