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Published : 10 Jul 2024, 01:35 PM
Students and job seekers have taken to the streets across the country as part of the ‘Bangla Blockade’ programme to press home their one-point demand for quota reforms in government jobs.
The one-point demand of the protesters says - “The quota system should be reformed by passing a law in parliament to abolish all kinds of unreasonable and discriminatory quotas in all grades and reduce the quota for the marginalised groups mentioned in the Constitution to the minimum level.”
Carrying placards showcasing their demands, the protesters began to stage demonstrations in several parts of Dhaka, including the Science Laboratory intersection, Elephant Road, Shahbagh, Matsya Bhaban intersection near the High Court, Hanif Flyover’s Nimtali area, Bangla Motor, Farmgate, Agargaon and Mohakhali’s Amtali, from 10:30am on Wednesday.
The blockade halted traffic on several key roads near Shahbagh and the stretch from New Market to Dhaka City College.
The protest called by Jahangirnagar University students disrupted traffic on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway.
Rajshahi University students blocked the Dhaka-Rajshahi Highway while protesters from Mymensingh’s Bangladesh Agricultural University sealed the Dhaka-Mymensingh rail line.
Due to the announcement of the blockade programme, there was less traffic on the key roads in Dhaka from Wednesday morning. There were fewer cars and buses plying Airport Road, Mohakhali, Rampura, Motijheel, Mohammadpur and other routes in the capital.
As a result, commuters had to suffer from a lack of transport in the morning. On the other hand, people who headed to work by cars and motorcycles took advantage of the deserted city streets.
Quota protesters began to protest after 10:30am, triggering traffic congestion in Shahbagh, Science Laboratory, Gulistan and neighbouring areas.
Aminur Rahman, a protester who took up a position near Matsya Bhaban, said: “We took to the streets for a reasonable demand. We will not allow any vehicles, except for emergency ones, to operate on the routes. We will not create any unpleasant situation and will not allow anyone else to do so.”
The protesters had previously held ‘Bangla Blockade’ programmes on Sunday and Monday. On these two days, city residents had to suffer from traffic jams on different roads in Dhaka.
The protesters decided to reduce their four-point list of demands to a single point at a media briefing under the banner of the ‘Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’ on Tuesday evening. They also declared a nationwide blockade from 10am on Wednesday until the evening.
Nahid Islam, one of the coordinators of the movement, said the blockade programme will block railways and roads.
BLOCKADE SCENARIO
The students from Dhaka College and Eden Mohila College blocked the capital’s Science Laboratory intersection at 10:30am, halting traffic on the Azimpur-Mirpur road that caused suffering for commuters.
Dhaka University students blocked the Shahbagh intersection around 11:45am. The roads surrounding the busy intersection were closed after 11am due to the presence of some protesters.
Some of the protesters from Shahbagh also took up positions in front of the InterContinental Dhaka hotel and on Bangla Motor.
Sarjis Alam, one of the coordinators of the ‘Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’, said he feared the 2018 notification could be cancelled in the full Appellate Division verdict.
“We said in our one-point demand that quotas should be reformed on the basis of rationales in all grades. In the 2018 circular, the quota was only abolished in first and second-grade jobs. We want quotas to be abolished in all grades. Five percent quota may be retained for the disabled and ethnic minorities."
At 10am, the protesting students began to gather in front of Dhaka University’s central library. They then launched a procession from there around 11am. They blocked Shahbagh after marching through different residential halls and roads on the campus.
The protesters chanted slogans protesting the High Court's decision, saying that public sector recruitment should be based on merit, not quotas.
Quota protesters from Government Titumir College blocked Mohakhali’s Amtali intersection at the same time. The students from Dhaka University’s Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall, Dr Muhammad Shahidullah Hall and Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall also took up positions at the capital’s Zero Point in Gulistan.
TRANSPORT CRISIS CAUSES WOES TO THE PUBLIC
Hafsa Akter, a passenger who was waiting for a bus in Mirpur’s Kalshi intersection, said she is suffering because of a lack of transport to her office in Badda.
“A bus overloaded with passengers came after a long time, but I couldn’t get in. CNG-run auto rickshaws are also charging too much. I don’t know how I can get to work.”
Private sector worker Kazi Rashek-Ur-Rahman had to wait 20 minutes for a bus in Mirpur to travel to his office in Mohakhali’s Amtali.
He told bdnews24.com, “I had to wait for a while to get a ride, but the way was clear due to fewer vehicles on the roads.”
Nahid Alam, who drives a car that can be rented for trips, says that he started work at 7am in the morning and has managed to make only two trips until noon.
In the morning, he went from Mohammadpur to Motijheel and then from Motijheel to Banani. On his way back from Banani, he got into a traffic jam around 11:30am.
Nahid says, “CNG is not available. There are long queues at every pump. And, on top of all that, I am burning gas while stuck in traffic. I’m worried I'll run out of gas on the road."
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police traffic control room said around 12:15pm that quota protesters had blocked the road at the Science Laboratory intersection, Dhaka University’s Nimtali area, and Mohakhali’s Amtali. Reports say they have also taken to the streets in other areas.
However, the traffic police on duty on the road say that the traffic on the road started to decrease before 10am on Wednesday.
A traffic policeman named Borhanuddin, on duty at Bangla Motor, said the situation was normal around 11am, but that there was usually more traffic in the morning.
Helper Al Amin of Baisakhi Transport said that he had been instructed to wrap up trips by 10am. They found the road clear as of 11am. The bus had come to Dhaka in the morning and had then left for Savar.
ENTRANCES TO DHAKA
There were fewer public transports than normal on the routes to Dhaka from Sylhet, Chattogram, Cumilla, Feni, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Barishal, and the north of the country.
Fewer travellers had come from Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Signboard, Chattogram Road, Rayerbagh, Shonir Akhra, Keraniganj, Postagola, Sreenagar and Munshiganj for work and business too, meaning there were fewer vehicles on the road.
As there was no rush, vehicles were able to quickly cross the toll plaza on the Gulistan-Jatrabari Mayor Hanif Flyover. Many people use the route to get to the stock market, central bank, and offices in the Motijheel area.
There were fewer vehicles in the Motijheel area around 10am.
Azizur Rahman, the driver of a Gabtoli Link Paribahan bus on the Jatrabari-Gabtoli route, told bdnews24.com: “There are few passengers. Many drivers have not taken their vehicles out on the road. It’s a student movement, so it's difficult to say what happens. After a while, all the vehicles will be running. After all, how will we eat if we don’t ply our craft?”
