Sajek Valley, a popular tourist destination in Rangamati’s Baghaichhari upazila, has reopened to visitors, while two local organisations have suspended their road blockade program for six days, from October 16 to 21, to allow celebrations of Durga Puja.
The Rangamati district administration announced the reopening in an emergency public notice issued from the deputy commissioner’s office at 8pm on Thursday.
Earlier that afternoon, the Sajek Karbari Association and the Sajek Gono Odhikar Rokkha Committee announced the suspension of the blockade in a press release sent to the media.
The public notice, signed by District Magistrate Nazma Ashrafi, said tourist destinations, including Sajek Valley, had been reopened following a revision of the instructions issued in an emergency notice on October 11.
The district administration had earlier suspended tourist visits to Sajek Valley from 6pm on October 11 until further notice, citing unavoidable circumstances and concerns over visitor safety.
Meanwhile, the Sajek Karbari Association and the Sajek Gono Odhikar Rokkha Committee decided to suspend their road blockade during Durga Puja, following a request from the Sajek Machalong Bazar Durga Puja Celebration Committee.
Durga Puja will also be celebrated at Machalong Bazar in Sajek. The organisations said the temporary suspension was intended to ensure that the religious festival could be observed with due dignity and respect.
Sajek Karbari Association President Notun Joy Chakma and Sajek Gon Odhikar Rokkha Committee Convener Babudhan Chakma confirmed the decision in the statement.
The leaders said their program was not influenced by any political party and was not directed against people of any ethnicity, religion or caste. Rather, they said, it had been called to demand the safety of Sajek residents and the protection of their lives and property.
They warned that the road blockade would resume after the Durga Puja celebrations if the administration failed to meet the residents’ demands. Details of the next programme would be announced through a press release in due course, they added.
The leaders also urged the administration to take prompt and effective steps to ensure peace in the area by implementing the residents’ three-point set of demands and conditions.