Supporters of Jamaat on Tuesday vandalised the car of journalist Shahin Reza Nur, a witness in Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujaheed’s case.
The activists of Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir damaged several vehicles in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday during the general strike the party had called to protest against the 90-year prison sentence given to its former chief Ghulam Azam.
The damaged vehicles on Dhaka streets included the car of Bangla Daily Ittefaq’s Executive Editor Shahin Reza Nur.
Nur, son martyred intellectual Sirajuddin Hossain, is a key witnesses in the Mujaheed case. Mujahid had allegedly ordered, in 1971, the abduction and assassination of the then Ittefaq Executive Editor Sirajuddin Hossain.
The International Crimes Tribunal-2 is set to deliver its verdict on the Jamaat Secretary General on Wednesday. The Jamaat has called another nationwide shutdown for that day to rev up protest against the ICT-2 verdict.
Only a day ahead of the crucial judgment, Nur’s car was targeted by Jamaat, a party that played a key role in cobbling up auxiliary forces to back the Pakistani army during the 1971 Liberation War. Jamaat, according to the ICT, was involved in crimes against humanity in that conflict.
Nur told bdnews24.com: “Some activists of Jamaat and Shibir attacked my car. They broke the windows.”
He came out of the car to save himself, he said. The attackers walked away after damaging other vehicles and exploding handmade bombs.
The agitators also vandalised six vehicles of the English daily Dhaka Tribune parked outside the newspaper’s office.
The daily’s Chief Photojournalist Syed Jakir Hossain told bdnews24.com: “Some youths banged cars on the road with sticks.”
He said four auto-rickshaws and two cars parked near the office were damaged. The mob also tried to torch one auto-rickshaw, Hossain added.
Several vehicles were wrecked in Dhanmondi too. Dhanmondi Police Station Inspector (Petrol) Md Sazzad Hossain told bdnews24.com that culprits fled on the moment the police arrived.
Jamaat had also called a general strike for Monday, timing it with the delivery of the verdict against Azam.
Now as the ICT-2 is all set to pronounce its verdict against Mujaheed on Wednesday, the country is bracing for a third nationwide strike in a row.
Source: Bd news24
