Jamaat calls hartal, BNP keeps mum

Alleged pro-hartal supporters set fire to a bus and vandalised one more in the capital's Jatrabari area last night, hours before a countrywide hartal was called by the Jamaat-e-Islami.

The party yesterday called the dawn-to-dusk hartal starting from 6:00am today, protesting the Supreme Court's disposal of Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed's review petition upholding his death penalty for war crimes.

The BNP, however, is yet to make any reaction to the SC verdict that upheld the death penalty for the party's standing committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

As the country had witnessed violence after verdicts against war criminals, especially Jamaat leaders, in the past, the law enforcement agencies were kept on high alert.

Additional police and Rab members were deployed across the country with police patrol and checkpoints increased.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh were deployed in the capital and Chittagong to avert any untoward incident.

Amid such tight security, a group of 15-20 pro-hartal activists, wielding sticks, brought out a procession on Jatrabari-Demra Road and torched a bus and vandalised one more, a correspondent of this paper witnessed.

They were seen chanting slogans in support of the hartal. Jatrabari police, however, claimed that no arson attack on a bus was reported.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha's village home in Tilokpur under Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar, said Enamul Haque, officer-in-charge of Kamalganj Police Station.

BGB Director General Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed told The Daily Star, “Twenty platoons of BGB men have been deployed in Dhaka to cooperate with the civil administration. They will remain posted until 6:00am tomorrow [Today].”

In Chittagong, additional two platoons of BGB have been added to four platoons already deployed in the city since yesterday morning.

Two more platoons were kept on standby, said Lt Col Emarat Hossain, commanding officer of BGB 8 battalion.

Talking to reporters, Monirul Islam, spokesperson for Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said they had taken all necessary measures to avert any untoward incidents. 

Meanwhile, Jamaat, in a press release signed by the party acting ameer Makbul Ahmed, claimed that there was no specific allegation and witnesses against Mojaheed. “In spite of all these, Mojaheed has been sentenced to death in the false case.”

Contacted, BNP spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon said, “We will inform you if the party high-ups instruct me to give any reaction.”

On July 29, the BNP alleged that SQ Chowdhury had become a victim of political vengeance after the SC upheld his death penalty.

“We are aggrieved, upset and saddened by the verdict,” Ripon said in the party's official reaction to the verdict on that day.