Year ends with hartal

The last day of the year 2014 ends with a hartal called by Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.

Wednesday's nationwide hartal means countrymen will not only end the year with a hartal, but they will also start the year 2015 with one as well, since Jamaat has called another dawn to dusk hartal on Thursday.

Some stray incidents marked the first hours of the strike as hartal supporters torched a covered van in city's Jatrabari area at about 6:00am. Firefighters later doused the fire.

Two buses were also torched in Gazipur during the first hours of the strike.

Jamaat called the hartal protesting the International Crimes Tribunal-1’s verdict awarding death sentence to its leader ATM Azharul Islam for his crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

According to a press release, Jamaat acting ameer Moqbul Ahmad announced dawn-to-dusk hartals for today (Wednesday) and Thursday.

As per Jamaat's announcement, the shutdown began at 6am and will end at 5:30pm. The party will again enforce a daylong hartal on Thursday from 6am to 5:30pm.

Ambulances, dead body-carrying vehicles and vehicles of the fire brigade and hospitals are out of the purview of the hartal programmes.