Islami Chhatra Sena and Bangladesh Islami Front have jointly called a countrywide half-day hartal for Sunday protesting the killing of their Ahle Sunnat leader Shaikh Nurul Islam Faruqi.
The announcement came from a press conference at Chittagong press club on Saturday afternoon.
The half-day hartal was announced as the government has failed to arrest the killers of Faruqi by the deadline they set, Islami Chhatra Sena General Secretary Jamaluddun Rabbani and Bangladesh Islami Front Secretary General Maulana MA Matin said in separate statements.
They called half-day shutdown instead of day-long considering Hajj pilgrims and flood situation across the country.
However, the flood-hit areas will be outside of the hartal purview.
Meanwhile, Islami Chhtra Sena President Nurul Haq Chisti has also made the countrywide half-day hartal announcement from its party headquarters in the capital’s Fakirerpool.
He came up with the announcement at a press conference on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier, Islami Chhatra Sena and Bangladesh Islami Front announced that day-long hartal would be observed on Sunday if the killers were not arrested by 48 hours.
On Wednesday night, unidentified armed assailants slaughtered Faruqi, a presenter of religious programmes on Channel i, at his residence in the capital’s east Rajabazar area.
The deceased was the presidium member and international affairs secretary of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat – an organisation known for opposing the views of Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam.
Apart from anchoring the “Shantir Pothe” and “Kafela” programmes on Channel i, he owned Faruqi Tours and Travels Private Limited, a Hajj travel agency, and served as the imam of the Supreme Court Mosque.
