Jamaat’s day-long hartal begins

The countrywide daylong hartal, called by Jamaat-e-Islami protesting the capital punishment against its ameer Moulana Matiur Rahman Nizami in 10-truck arms smuggling case, began at 6am today (Thursday). Jamaat acting secretary general Dr Shafiqur Rahman announced the shutdown programme through a statement on Friday for last Monday that deferred to Thursday due to the second phase of Biswa Ijtema and Saraswati Puja. Besides, Jamaat has excluded Chapainawabganj district from Thursday’s hartal to let the local Hindus to celebrate a religious festival following a request by the community as Hindu pilgrims will arrive at Tortipur under Shibganj upazila on Thursday for Ganga Snan or bathe in the Ganges River, considered holy by Hindus. The Islamist party, however, will stage ‘peaceful’ demonstrations across the country protesting what the party said the government’s design to kill its ameer Moulana Matiur Rahman Nizami. Meanwhile, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has taken all-out steps to prevent any untoward incident during the hartal hours in the capital. A senior DMP officer said additional 8,000 policemen have been deployed in the capital to ensure security in the city, according to UNB.