The tense situation that gripped people on Sunday seemed to have given way to undaunted courage as thousands of city residents came out yesterday, braving the likely violence centering around the opposition’s “March for Democracy”.
The city dwellers, who could not but go out for emergency needs, suffered as much as the days before yesterday, since the “government-sponsored traffic restriction” kept almost all vehicles off the roads.
Law enforcers put barricades up across the city and searched people.
The number of rickshaws, vans, auto-rickshaws, private cars and goods-laden vehicles rose significantly, but the thin presence of passenger buses actually made no difference to the ongoing suffering.
A huge contingent of police, Border Guard Bangladesh and Rab were seen posted at different parts of the capital amid fears of a clash between opposition men, police and pro-government activists.
No long-route buses ran from the inter-district bus depot and no water vehicles left the capital from the Sadarghat Terminal.
The government had de-linked the capital from the rest of the country since Thursday evening, by snapping all communication networks between Dhaka and other districts, in a bid to resist the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance’s agitation programme.
The opposition alliance announced the “Dhaka march” demanding that the government arrange the election under a non-partisan interim administration to avert polls fraud.
As the government foiled the “march” towards Dhaka, and did not let BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to come out of her Gulshan residence, the leader of the opposition yesterday announced a day extension of the programme.
The Kamalapur Railway Station also looked bare as no trains left or came to the station for the second consecutive day, and for “security reasons” the authorities asked all waiting passengers to leave the station.
Visiting the station, a large number of railway security forces were found patrolling the platform and adjacent areas. They were also on guard at the entry gates and asking people to go back home.
“No train will leave now. Come later,” a guard told this correspondent around 2pm. Later, examining the ID card he let the newsman in.
There were no passengers on the platform except the security guards. Rab, Police and BGB men were standing outside the terminal building.
“We will go to Chittagong. Last night, they said the train would run in the morning, but now they do not let us enter the platform area,” alleged Sheuli Begum. The woman, with her college student son, was waiting outside the building.
Officer-in-Charge of railway security Mujibur Rahman said they had not been letting any passengers enter the platform area since Sunday night for security reasons.
“The decision came from the high-ups,” he said.
From Gabtoli bus station, only some small buses left the capital to nearby destinations including Manikganj and Aricha, however, long-route bus services remained suspended.
Shyamoli Paribahan counter manager Mohammad Saiful told the Dhaka Tribune they were not running services for fear of violence, but that the decision might be changed at night.
“This is only for lack of passengers. We need to fill at least 40 seats to run the services. As soon as we get instructions from the higher authorities, we will run services,” he claimed.
Ambia Akhter, a mother, was seen waiting with her six-month-old child at the Gabtoli Bus terminal around 2pm.
“I came to Dhaka a few days back to consult a doctor for my daughter. We consulted the physician on Saturday morning, but we have since been waiting to go home because there is no transport,” she told the Dhaka Tribune.
Contacted, Md Faruk Talukder Sohel, managing director of Shohagh Paribahan, and a representative of Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners’ Association, said they were instructed to book seats for the long-route bus services around 4pm.
However, Association of Bus Companies President Khandker Rafiqul Hossain Kajol told the Dhaka Tribune last night they had not yet taken any decision on whether to resume services or not.
“People who feel safe are running services, but we have yet to decide,” he said.
Our Barisal correspondent reports that Dhaka-bound road and water transport will resume from Monday night. It was suspended on Friday night after pressure by the law enforcement agencies.
Barisal Bus and Launch Owners Association, and sources in different booking offices and ticket counters, said they had decided to resume the services of Dhaka-bound vehicles, as their central committee and law enforcement agencies permitted them to do so.
