The second-phase daylong countrywide hartal, called by Jamaat-e-Islami protesting the death sentence awarded to its acting secretary general ATM Azharul Islam for war crimes, is being observed in a relaxed way across the country today (Thursday). No major incident, barring some sporadic ones, was reported from any parts of the country. The shutdown that began at 6.00am will end at 5:30pm. Nowhere on the city streets was picketing seen to have been carried out till filing this report at 09.30 am. Vehicular movement in the city was almost normal as additional policemen were deployed at important points to fend off any untoward incident. In Bogra, police fired several rounds of bullet to disperse the pickets in Matidali area of the district town around 8.00am when they brought out a procession in support of the hartal on way to Government Azizul Haque College (Old Bhaban). Pickets hurled a crude bomb targeting a police van at that time. Later, police arrested eight people from different places of the district from Wednesday night to Thursday morning for allegedly picketing. Ambulances, dead body-carrying vehicles and vehicles of the fire brigade and hospitals were kept out of the purview of the hartal. Jamaat acting ameer Moqbul Ahmad on Tuesday announced the dawn-to-dusk hartals for Wednesday and Thursday through a press statement shortly after the ICT had delivered the judgment giving death penalty to Azharul. The first-phase dawn-to-dusk shutdown passed off on Wednesday amid poor response. Stray incidents of violence during the shutdown were reported from various districts, including Gazipur, Chapainawabganj and Sylhet. ICT-1 condemned ATM Azharul Islam to death for his crimes against humanity, including rape and genocide, during the 1971 Liberation War.—UNB, Dhaka.
