Jamaat-e-Islami has called a dawn-to-dusk countrywide general strike for Tuesday, hours after the first war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh sentenced its former chief Ghulam Azam to jail for 90 years.
The party demands the 91-year-old be released while dubbing the verdict politically motivated.
The call came within minutes of ten student and youth organisations, who are a part of the Shahbagh protests, announcing a similar lockdown in protest at the verdict, which they deem lenient.
Jamaat Acting Secretary General Rafiqul Islam Khan announced the shutdown in a statement on Monday.
He said the prosecution had failed to prove all the 61 counts brought against Azam, proving the state’s failure.
“Observations about the Jamaat made in the verdict are irrelevant, unwanted and illegal. That proves the verdict was politically driven and given to serve the government’s interest,” said the media release.
The first war crimes tribunal on Monday found the former Jamaat chief guilty of all five charges levelled against him.
ICT-1, however, sentenced him to 90 years in prison, considering his old age and ailment, which means he will be behind bars for the ‘rest of his life’.
Source: Bd news24
