Death of two college students
Protests continue, sufferings as well
Students take to streets for fourth consecutive day
Staff Reporter
The student protest against unsafe roads continued for the fourth day yesterday, choking city traffic at various places. The protests virtually made the city go without any public buses, creating havoc for commuters.
We want justice, the protesters chanted, reflecting their anger over the deaths of two SRCC studentsDia Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib, who were run over by a bus on Sunday.
The agitating students in several areas of Dhaka, including Farmgate, Asad Gate, Dhanmondi, Shahbag and Science Laboratory intersection, stopped vehicles and asked drivers to show their driving licenses and papers. We are just checking if they have any papers, including fitness certificates for the vehicles, said a student of Uttara Commerce College.
The students seized the keys of the vehicles whose drivers were unable to show licences, leaving them immobile and thousands of passengers stranded on the roads.
On his part, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia asked law enforcers not to use force against the agitating students and instead speak to them about public sufferings.
Similar protests were reported from Chattogram and Gazipur. Agitated students holding placards gathered on the premises of Chattogram Press Club in Zamal Khan area around 10am and staged a demonstration, triggering traffic snarls in and around the area.
Students Demands
The students announced nine demands, including capital punishment for the reckless driver and resignation of shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, who is also the executive president of the Transport Workers Federation.
They also demanded that government should take responsibility for students killed in road mishaps, half fare for students across the country, making licenses and fitness certificates of vehicles mandatory, and no overcrowding on buses.
City Protests
A Facebook group, Private University Students Alliance, urged all students in Dhaka to join in the protests.
In a post on Tuesday night, the group urged students to stage peaceful protests in front of their educational institutions at 10 am yesterday (Wednesday).
Following the post, Panthapath Green Road signals were blocked by City University students. Begum Rokeya Sarani was blocked by Green University Students.
KakoliBanani Road was blocked by students of Southeast University, Northern University and Prime Asia University.
Students from Uttara University, Milestone College, Scholastica and BGMEA University staged a demonstration in front of the Uttara House building from 9.30 am, stalling traffic movement on AirportUttara Road. A huge police force was deployed to control the situation in that area.
Students from Government Science College took position at Farmgate at 10 am, leading to traffic disruptions in the area. Similarly, thousands of students blocked the Shahbagh intersection at 12 noon after marching from Science Lab area.
Approximately, students from 20 colleges in Dhaka, including Sheikh Burhanuddin College, Eden College, Dhaka College and Dhaka City College, joined the demonstration. The students burned an effigy of the shipping minister at Shahbagh and demanded his resignation.
Students of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and Sheikh Borhan Uddin College protested at Palashi around 11.15 am. Students of Notre Dame College and Ideal School and College flocked to Motijheel, halting traffic in the commercial district of the city.
Similarly, students blocked roads at Jatrabari, Shani Aakhra and Rayerbagh on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway from 9am. As a result, the movement of all types of traffic on this highway is stopped.
Public Sufferings
The series of road blockades left commuters, especially office-goers, in the lurch, with many forced to walk to their destinations.
Senior police officers tried to reason with the students and tried to clear the roads a few times, but without success.
Iftekharul Islam, deputy commissioner of police (Demra zone), said: The students have made nine demands. The process of implementing many of them is going on. Were talking to the protesting students and trying to persuade them to lift the blockades.
As many of the students did not wear uniforms, we are afraid that outsiders may join their ranks to foment trouble, he added.
Workers Strike Back
Also yesterday, transport workers blocked the Dhaka-Chittagong highway and beat up students. The transport workers also harassed students in school uniform, witnesses said.
The workers warned that vandalism of vehicles and attacks on them would not be tolerated. If the security of transport workers was not ensured, no vehicles would move on the roads, they added.
The workers blockaded Signboard Point at Siddhirganj in Narayanganj around 8.30 am, causing severe gridlock on the highway. Abdus Sattar, OC of Siddhirganj police station, said four persons, including a student, were beaten up by the agitating workers.
