Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed in the capital as well as different parts of the country on Tuesday evening, ahead of the 48-hour hartal to be enforced by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Wednesday. The paramilitary force members started patrolling different strategic points of the city alongside members of other law enforcement agencies, said sources at the BGB headquarters. On Sunday, the Islamic party announced a 24-hour strike for Thursday protesting the capital punishment of its policymaker Mir Quasem Ali for war crimes. On the day, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 unanimously sentenced him to death for crimes perpetrated against humanity, including murder, during the Liberation War. On Monday, it called another 24-hour hartal for Wednesday protesting the verdict of the Supreme Court that upheld the death penalty of its assistant secretary general M Kamaruzzaman. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on the day upheld the tribunal judgment that had sentenced the Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general to death for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. In a statement on Monday, Jamaat acting ameer Makbul Ahmed and acting secretary general Dr Shafiqur Rahman said they would enforce a 48-hour shutdown from 6am on Wednesday till 6am on Friday. –UNB, Dhaka
