Jamaat back in action

The way the opposition alliance enforced the blockade yesterday suggests the BNP and its closest ally Jamaat-e-Islami have bridged the differences that had developed between them lately.
The first two days of the nonstop blockade passed almost peacefully apart from some stray incidents, as Jamaat stayed away from the streets amid rifts with BNP, an 18-party alliance leader told The Daily Star last night.  
But things changed after BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday night phoned two Jamaat leaders requesting them to engage in the alliance's movement as before.
Violence flared up in different parts of the country, especially in Jamaat strongholds, as its activists yesterday remained active alongside BNP men, said the alliance leader on condition of wishing anonymity.   
Two were killed, eight others badly injured and six schools set on fire on the third day of the nonstop blockade, which began on Wednesday to foil tomorrow's “one-sided” polls.  
Recently, the main opposition BNP's “silence” on the execution of convicted war criminal Quader Mollah, absence of its leaders in agitations and failure of December 29 Dhaka march made Jamaat unhappy, insiders say.
At one stage, the Jamaat high-ups conveyed to Khaleda that they would not take part in the 18-party alliance programmes unless BNP leaders play active roles in the anti-government movement.
In fear of losing a longtime ally, Khaleda Zia, also the chief of BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance, moved to patch things up with Jamaat.     
From the mobile phone of one of her aides, she called Shafiqul Islam Masud, an assistant secretary of Dhaka city Jamaat, and Hamidur Rahman Azad, lawmaker and member of the party's central executive council.
Of the two, Azad is on the run to avoid arrest as an International Crimes Tribunal on June 9 awarded him three-month imprisonment for contempt of court.
“Seeking their [Jamaat's] continuous cooperation, the BNP chief assured the two Jamaat leaders that from now on, she will look into maintaining close contacts with Jamaat,” a Jamaat leader told The Daily Star last night.
Another 18-party leader also confirmed the phone call.
He quoted Monjurul Islam Bhuiyan, an assistant secretary of Dhaka city Jamaat, as saying the BNP chief in the phone conversation had expressed her annoyance with her party colleagues for not keeping in touch with Jamaat.
The Jamaat leaders in response pledged the party's renewed engagement in the anti-government movement and said they would be with BNP as always.