The agitation by students in Dhaka against the death of two fellow students in a road accident on Sunday has now spread to other parts of the country as well. Students launched demonstrations to demand “safer roads” at various places in Chattogram, Jhenaidah, Chandpur, Brahmanbaira, Rajshahi, Jessore, Dinajpur, Bogura, Tangail, Mymensingh and Narayanganj districts as well as in Savar and Keranignaj on the outskirts of Dhaka yesterday.
In Chattogram, traffic was paralysed from 10 am as thousands of students hit the streets to demand safe roads. The demonstration was continuing till the filing of this report at 4.30 pm yesterday.
College and school students checked the licences of drivers and registration papers of vehicles. They forced vehicles to drive in their respective lanes and asked pedestrians to walk on the pavements. They also halted vehicles and drivers without valid papers and asked police to file cases against them. A large police force was deployed in the area but they did not interfere with the agitators.
Blockades put up by students at several strategic points in the port city forced traffic to move at snail’s pace and many people had to walk to their destinations. The situation was particularly bad at Sholoshahar, Gate No. 2, GEC Circle, Wasa Circle, Lalkhan Bazar Circle, Probortak Circle and Kazirdewari.
Around 3.30 pm, students at GEC Circle stopped a vehicle of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (Pajero, registration no. CMP-60) and asked the driver, Jashim Uddin, to show his licence and documents of the vehicle. When he failed to do so, the agitated students asked him to handover the key and called a nearby traffic sergeant, Abdul Jalil.
“As the driver failed to show valid documents, I filed case against him and the police vehicle,” Jalil told The Independent.
At Gate No. 2 and Probartak Circle area, as many as 50 vehicles including buses and private cars were halted by students and the keys of vehicles without registration were impounded.
“We want our parents, relatives and friends to return home safely. We don’t want any more deaths on the roads. Everyone should have proper licences and registration papers,” one of the agitating students said on condition of anonymity.
In Jhenaidah, hundreds of students under the banner of Chhatra Oikyo Parishad formed a human chain in Kaliganj upazila headquarters to demand safe roads. The protest started at 10 am and ended at 11.30 am.
The students carried placards and banners and shouted slogans to demand the fulfilment of their nine demands immediately. Speakers addressing the human chain claimed that most road accidents took place because of unskilled and inefficient drivers and alleged that the law enforcing agencies turned a blind eye.
Also yesterday, students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway near the campus for two hours and demanded curbs on reckless driving.
They also expressed solidarity with the nine demands made by the students in Dhaka, including the resignation of shipping minister Shajahan Khan.
Around noon, thousands of students marched in a protest rally from Central Shahid Minar and made their way across different streets on the campus. Professor Shamima Sultana of Bangla department, Associate Professor Anisa Parvin Joly of history department, Assistant Professor Sumana Gupta of English department and lecturer of fine arts department Shamim Reza took part in the rally to express solidarity with the students.
The agitators then blockaded the Dhaka-Aricha highway. During the blockade, JU Cultural Alliance staged a street play “Chakrabuha” at the varsity’s Joy Bangla gate to raise social awareness.
The students finally withdrew the blockade around 2 pm following an appeal by JU officials. “Our proctorial body is always alert to avoid any unwanted situation. We requested the students to be non-violent,” JU proctor Shikder Md Zulkarnine said.
In Jessore, students blocked several roads in protest against the death of the two students in Dhaka. The blockades took place at Mujib Sarak, Daratana, Monihar Cinema Hall in Jessore town, on Jessore- Khulna highway at Nawapara and some other places in the district.
This was the first ever demonstration by students in Jessore. The students took to the streets when they found that their institutions were closed in the morning.
In Rajshahi, students of various schools and colleges blocked Shaheb Bazaar Zero Point in the city. “We want justice,” they shouted during their demonstration, which disrupted traffic movement.
Thousands of students of Rajshahi College, Rajshahi City College, New Government Degree College, Rajshahi Collegiate School, Government Laboratory School, Helenabad Girls School, Rajshahi Education Board Model School and College took part in the demonstration.
“We are students. We want to study for our betterment and to ensure the development of our country. But the road safety issue has compelled us to stand on the streets. Yesterday, my fellow students were killed and tomorrow, it could be my brother. Then, it would be probably my turn,” a student of Rajshahi Collegiate School said, refusing to divulge his name. “We want justice so that no one would dare to run us over on the roads,” he added.
The students ended the demonstration after an hour. They, however, warned that they would stage another demonstration at the same place on Saturday.
In Rangpur, students of different educational institutions blocked the Rangpur-Dinajpur and Rangpur-Dhaka highways and chanted slogans of “we want justice”. The protesters halted a car and a truck and asked the drivers to show their papers and licences. But the two drivers escaped from the spot leaving the vehicles behind.
When the protesters reached the Cantonment check post, police tried to resist the students. However, the students handed flowers to the men in uniform.
The blockade left hundreds of vehicles stranded on both side of Rangpur-Dinajpur and Rangpur-Dhaka highways. Ridoy Ahamed, a second year student of Cantonment College, read out a charter of 11 demands. He said the students would continue their movement till the demands were met.
Hundreds of passers-by and shop keepers also joined the protest by students.