Jamaat-e-Islami’s statement calls for shutdown protesting Mir Quasem’s death sentence

A statement issued by the Jamaat-e-Islami after the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for its senior leader Mir Quasem Ali has called for a shutdown.

The statement, released after the top court delivered its verdict on Tuesday, called for a daylong general strike for Wednesday.

“In protest against the government’s conspiracy to murder Mr Mir Quasem Ali and demanding his release, we announce a dawn-to-dusk shutdown for Mar 9 across Bangladesh,” reads the statement.

Mir Quasem, founding president of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, is a member of the Jammat’s Central Executive Council and the organisation’s fifth most important leader.

He is also known as the party’s financial backbone.