Jamaat\\\'s fresh 48-hr hartal starts at 6am Wednesday

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is set to enforce another spell of nationwide 48-hour hartal (shutdown) on Wednesday and Thursday protesting the death sentence awarded to its top two leaders for war crimes. The 2nd spell of 2-day shutdown will begin at 6:00am on Wednesday and end at 6:00am on Friday. On Sunday, Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir announced a 24-hour nationwide general strike for Thursday protesting the capital punishment of its policymaker Mir Quasem Ali for war crimes. On the day, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 unanimously sentenced him to death for crimes against humanity during the country’s independence struggles in 1971. On Monday, Jamaat-Shibir 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 Muhammad 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. Earlier, Jamaat enforced a 60-hour nationwide shutdown in two phases protesting the death sentence against its Ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami for his wartime offences, according to a news agency.