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They have taken to social media to criticise police inaction
Published : 03 Feb 2025, 12:21 AM
Harun Or Rashid, a retired bank official from Dhaka’s Agargaon, gets up early in the morning to drop his granddaughters off at school in Mohammadpur's Asad Avenue.
He was delayed while picking up the children after school at noon on Sunday.
He said, "In the morning, there was a slight traffic jam on the road.
“When I took the rickshaw to go at noon, it was stuck in one place. I cannot walk much. After 45 minutes, I went to school and saw my little granddaughter crying in fear."
Like Harun, many people in Dhaka spent a painful day on the road on Sunday.
Students have blocked the Amtoli-Gulshan 1 road in Amtoli, Mohakhali, from the morning demanding the upgrade of Government Titumir College to a university.
On the night of Feb 1, those injured in the July uprising blocked the road from Shishu Mela to Agargaon intersection in Dhaka.
On Sunday, they also blocked the Mirpur Road at Shishu Mela intersection, causing severe hardship for those heading to schools, colleges, offices, and workplaces.
In the afternoon, police barricaded a procession of Inqilab Moncho at the Shikkha Bhaban intersection in the Secretariat area.
The road was also blocked during office closing hours, leaving Dhaka residents to face indescribable suffering as three sides of the city were simultaneously obstructed.
The final prayer of the first phase of Biswa Ijtema also took place on Sunday in Tongi, near Dhaka.
As a result, Dhaka residents endured severe traffic jams on the first working day of February.
They have criticised the inaction of police in dealing with the blockaders, expressing their anger on social media.
When asked why police were not taking any action, Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesperson Muhammad Talebur Rahman said: “We have always emphasised that any movement should be peaceful to avoid public suffering. With this in mind, everyone should present their demands responsibly.”
However, people criticised the DMP on social media for failing in that effort.
STUDENTS’ MOVEMENT DISRUPTS THE NORTH
Students of Government Titumir College, who have been protesting for seven demands including conversion to an independent university, blocked the road in front of the college in Mohakhali from noon on Sunday.
This caused traffic congestion on both sides of the Mohakhali-Gulshan road.
However, considering the final prayer of the first phase of the Biswa Ijtema, the protesters relaxed the previously announced “Barasat Barricade to Dhaka North City” programme.
Under this programme, they initially planned to block the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and railway in Mohakhali.
Although they took place in front of the college throughout the day, around 6 pm, the students took a procession towards the Mohakhali rail gate and took a position there.
Deputy Commissioner of the Gulshan Division of DMP Tarek Mahmud said, "Police are in Amtoli, Mohakhali, trying to handle the situation."
In the evening, police were around the procession of Titumir students in the guise of riot control, but they were inactive.
Police water cannons and armoured vehicles were also seen stationed in Amtoli.
Employees of various institutions in Gulshan-Mohakhali faced great suffering due to the road blockade of Titumir College students.
As the main road was closed, vehicle movement was obstructed in this area throughout the day.
The closure of the Mohakhali-Gulshan road also affected the Airport Road.
After the final prayers of the Ijtema, many roads came to a complete standstill due to the flow of people coming towards the city.
Ashraf Ali, a driver of a ride-sharing app, said: "I went to Baridhara in the morning after picking up an office employee. I only profited a total of Tk 700 in the whole day."
Titumir College has also faced a lot of criticism on social media regarding the blockade programme.
Many have raised questions about why police are playing a passive role despite the intense suffering of the people.
Zarif Mahmud wrote on the Traffic Alert group, “Is there no police, no army in the country?”
Nadeem Jawad Aqil wrote, “At what point in time will the law-enforcing agencies take strict action? Or, will they not take action at all?”
BLOCKADE ON MIRPUR ROAD
When the injured in the mass uprising took a stand at the Shishu Mela intersection on Mirpur Road demanding better medical treatment on Sunday morning, traffic on both sides from Shyamoli to Agargaon Road was stopped.
This situation remained the same on the road. Traffic resumed when the injured left the road in the evening.
Frustrated by the traffic jam in Shyamoli, Moushumi Naznin wrote on Facebook at 7pm, “I couldn’t bring my child from school, and left him at my sister’s house. Will people not return home at night?”
Expressing his anger, protester Mohammad Sharif said: “People are suffering because of road blockades.
“The interim government forced us to block the road. No one is keeping updates of how the injured in the Anti-discrimination Movement.”
“We want to say that this movement is not like the last time. I took Hasina’s gunfire to my chest—I have become blind, I have become lame, but I am not afraid. If the injured in the anti-discrimination movement are treated unfairly, they will face the same fate as Hasina.”
Despite demanding better care, the injured receiving treatment at the National Institute of Traumatology & Orthopaedic Rehabilitation and the National Institute of Ophthalmology took to the streets after 10pm on Saturday, claiming that no one was “paying attention” to their plight.
Jalaluddin came from Lalmonirhat for kidney treatment.
He said a doctor from Shyamoli’s Centre for Kidney Diseases and Urology Hospital treated him and advised him to visit the kidney hospital in the afternoon.
Unable to walk for long and unable to find a rickshaw, he ultimately rented an ambulance for Tk 1500 to travel just one kilometre.
The Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area has many large government hospitals, but patients seeking treatment there have suffered all day.
INQILAB MONCHO PROCESSION BLOCKS ROAD
Police stopped the Inqilab Moncho procession near Shikkha Bhaban as it marched towards the home ministry, protesting against “a safe exit for those involved in the July killings with the assistance of state agencies” and demanding the home advisor's resignation.
At 2:45pm on Sunday, Inquilab Moncho took out a procession from the foot of the Raju Sculpture at Dhaka University towards the home ministry.
When the protest rally headed towards the Secretariat through the Shikkha Bhaban intersection, police stopped them.
Inqilab Moncho leaders and activists held a brief rally in front of a police barricade.
