The nationwide straight 131-hour road-rail-waterway blockade, enforced by the BNP-led 18-party alliance, ended at 5pm on Thursday amid violent incidents like clashes and arson on vehicles that left 24 people dead. Meanwhile, the 6th and last day of the protest programme was marked by stray incidents of violence across the country on Thursday that left a bus helper dead in the capital. The opposition combine initially enforced a 72-hour blockade programme on 6am on November 30 demanding cancellation of the schedule for the 10th parliamentary elections billed for January 5 and protesting the filing of ‘false’ cases against its leaders and activists. However, the alliance on Monday extended the protest programme by 59 hours until 5pm Thursday. There had been incidents of violence, including vandalising and torching of vehicles, clashes between blockaders and cops and ruling party men, arrest of opposition leaders and activists and crude bomb blasts allover the country. At least 24 people were killed and some 600 others injured during the blockade. Of them, bus helper Hasan, 25, who suffered severe burn injuries after blockaders torched his vehicle in Sayedabad area of the capital on Thursday morning, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital in the afternoon. A rickshaw-puller, who sustained bullet injury in a clash between activists of Jamaat-Shibir and police in Feni three days ago, died at the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Thursday morning. The deceased was identified as M Mafiz, 42, son of Abdul Aziz of Dakkhin Joylaskar village in Daganbhuiyan upazila. Besides, several hundred vehicles were damaged and over 500 crude bombs blasted during the blockade programme. The country’s railway was hit hard during the second spell of the blockade as a good number of trains veered off tracks across the country during the period due the removal of fishplates and the uprooting of rail tracks that killed three people in Gaibandha. The rail communications totally collapsed due to the acts of sabotage targeting the railway. Capital Dhaka remained almost disconnected from the rest of the country as no long-route buses left or entered the city during the blockade. Rickshaws and auto-rickshaws dominated the city streets during the period, causing immense sufferings to commuters, especially the office-goers. Huge law enforcers remained deployed on the city streets to avoid untoward incident. Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad on November 25 announced that the 10th parliamentary elections will be held on January 5 next. – UNB
