Jamaat\\\'s 2-day hartal being observed

The 48-hour nationwide nonstop hartal (shutdown), called by Jamaat-e-Islami protesting the death sentence awarded to its two leaders for war crimes, began on Wednesday morning. The 2nd spell of Jamaat’s 2-day shutdown began at 6am today will end at 6am on Friday. On Sunday (Nov 2), Jamaat announced a 24-hour strike for Thursday (Nov 6) protesting the capital punishment handed down to its policymaker Mir Quasem Ali. On the day, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 unanimously sentenced him to death for crimes against humanity during Bangladesh’s independence struggles in 1971. On Monday, it called another 24-hour hartal for Wednesday protesting the verdict of the Supreme Court that upheld the death penalty of Jamaat’s assistant secretary general M Kamaruzzaman. In a statement on Monday, Jamaat acting Ameer Makbul Ahmed and acting secretary general Dr Shafiqur Rahman said they would enforce a 48-hour shutdown from 6am on Wednesday till 6am on Friday, according to a news agency.