Bangladesh's Jamaat protests Nizami's execution

Bangladesh's largest Islamist party staged a one-day strike on Thursday to protest against the execution of its former chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.

Nizami, 74, ameer (president) of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was hanged on Wednesday for war crimes, reported Xinhua news agency.

Hours after his execution, Jamaat called a nationwide strike for Thursday.

Despite the strike, traffic on short routes in and around Dhaka was almost regular as no activities of pro-strike activists were visible.

In other parts of the country, the shutdown also reportedly had almost no impact on people's routine life.

Academic activities were hampered to some extent while attendance in the government and private offices was as usual. But businesses in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country opened as per schedule on Thursday morning.

Nizami served as the agriculture and industries minister in ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia's 2001-2006 cabinet.

--IANS

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