Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday called countrywide hartals (shut-down) for today, Sunday and Monday protesting the death sentence awarded to party Chief Matiur Rahman Nizami for committing crimes against humanity in the Liberation War in 1971.
However, the Rangamati will remain out of the purview of the shut-down on the occasion of Kathin Chibar Dan, a religious festival of the Buddhist people in Rangamati.
Within an hour of announcement of the verdict, Jamaat acting Ameer Maqbul Ahmed and acting secretary general Shafiqur Rahman issued a press release announcing the shut-downs.
The party will observe a 24-hour nationwide general strike for today and another 48-hour shut-down starting from 6am on 2nd November. The second spell of shut-down will end at 6am on 4th November.
The press release said the party will stage demonstration on 1st November protesting what it said the conspiracy of killing Matiur Rahman Nizami.
Meanwhile, Jamaat’s key ally the BNP remained silent over the verdict on war criminal Matiur Rahman Nizami.
The BNP, however, staged a demonstration across the country after the court awarded death sentence to BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury for his wartime crimes in 1971.
After the verdict, several attempts were made from the Dhaka Tribune correspondent to reach BNP leaders for their reactions to the verdict but they declined to make any comment over the issue.
When the verdict was announced, BNP’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was at a discussion programme in the National Press Club. When reporters asked for his reaction Fakhrul kept silent.
Even other leaders who were accompanying Fakhrul namely Shamsuzzaman Dudu, adviser to the BNP chairperson, and Joint Secretary General Barkatullah Bulu also declined to make any comment.
Though it maintained silence the party on Tuesday all on a sudden shifted its public meeting scheduled to be held on October 30 in Natore due to “unavoidable reason”.
The decision came some few hours after the International Crimes Tribunal announced that the verdict of Nizami would be delivered yesterday.
Usually Jamaat calls countrywide strike after each verdict on war criminals. Many believe that the meeting date was deferred taking into consideration the Jamaat’s hartal for today.
The prediction came true as the Jamaat called the general strike starting from Thursday protesting the verdict.
In the statement the Jamaat said: “The government has undertaken a master plan to kill the top leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami in the name of trial of crimes against humanity in order to attain their ill political interest. The verdict deprived Nizami of justice.”
Meanwhile, the ruling Awami League has expressed its satisfaction over the verdict of war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami.
“The verdict has fulfilled the expectations of the whole nation,” Awami League Presidium Member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury said yesterday adding that the verdict had taken the country a step forward in the process of purifying the nation. Expecting a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami politics Awami League Joint Secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif said: “The verdict has once again proved that Jamaat was involved in war crimes with a political decision.”
Issuing strong note against the conspirators the leader said if anyone tried to hatch any conspiracy centring the verdict the government would handle it with iron hand.
Food Minister Advocate Quamrul Islam claimed that the tribunal had maintained neutrality while giving the verdict and the government had not interfered.” he said.
The ruling party associated bodies brought out joyous processions and distributed sweetmeat in the capital after the verdict.