Jamaat’s hartal rescheduled for Thursday

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has deferred its Monday’s nationwide daylong hartal to Thursday due to the second phase of Biswa Ijtema and Saraswati Puja. The Islamist party, however, will stage ‘peaceful’ demonstrations across the country on Monday protesting what the party said the government’s design to kill its ameer Moulana Matiur Rahman Nizami. In a statement on Saturday, Jamaat acting secretary general Dr Shafiqur Rahman said they will observe shutdown programme on Thursday instead of Monday so that the devotees joined the Biswa Ijtema can smoothly return to their own destinations and the Hindu community can observe the Puja. The second phase of Biswa Ijtema that began on Friday morning on the bank of the Turag River at Tongi on the outskirts of the capital will conclude on Sunday through Akheri Munajat (concluding prayers) while the Saraswati Puja, one of the main religious festivals of the Hindu community, will be celebrated on Tuesday, according to a news agency.