People have rejected Jamaat's strike, says AL leader Hasan Mahmud

The general strike called by the Jamaat-e-Islami to protest against war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s life-in-prison sentence is tantamount to contempt of court, Awami League leader Hasan Mahmud has said.

He claimed the people had “rejected” Thursday’s strike.

“Vehicles are out on Dhaka’s streets and there are traffic snarls,” Mahmud told a rally in the capital.

The Appellate Division on Wednesday reduced Jamaat leader Sayedee’s death sentence to “imprisonment until death” for crimes against humanity.

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The verdict triggered clashes between police and secular protesters demanding death for the 74-year-old Jamaat leader, who used to be known as ‘Delya Razakar’ during the war.

The Ganajagaran Mancha, pressing for the maximum penalty for convicted war criminals, alleged that the government had colluded with Jamaat and dubbed the verdict “motivated”.

“Jamaat called a nationwide strike opposing the verdict and the BNP silently endorsed it,” Mahmud said. “What they are doing amounts to contempt of court.”

But, the Awami League MP claimed, the people had “accepted” Sayedee’s verdict “out of respect for the court”.

Mahmud claimed the BNP’s support to Jamaat “proved” that its founder Ziaur Rahman took part in the Liberation War “under special circumstances” and that he had “worked as a Pakistani agent”.