Dhaka, Aug 2 – The students’ movement on Thursday marked another dimension of checking licences of the drivers and papers of the vehicles including the police transports that were plying in different streets of the capital. The agitating students took to the streets of the main points of the capital since morning for the fifth day of their movement, braving the inclement wet weather of heavy rains of the monsoon.
The students’ movement has paralysed the capital resulting in severe sufferings of the commuters to move from one place to another as the vehicles were moving slowly due to checking papers.
The suffering compounded as most of the public transports were off the streets in the capital as transport workers said they feel unsafe in the streets following the ongoing movement. People were seen waiting at bus terminals like Gabtoli, Sayedabad, Mahakhali for hours as the inter-district buses were off the streets.
Wearing uniforms the students of different schools and colleges of the capital gathered at various points including Uttara, Farmgate, Karwarn Bazar, Shahbagh, Science Lab, New Market, Jatrabari, Shantinagar and Shanirakhra.
Drenched in the heavy rain the students were checking the registration papers of the vehicles and licences of the drivers. If papers are not found they handed over to the vehicle to the traffic police to file cases against the responsible persons.
The students were instructing the drivers of private cars to wear seat belts and motorbikers to wear a helmet. If helmets were not found with the biker’s ride-sharing person, they made the person to get off the bike and to go on foot. Even the students told drivers not to talk to mobile phone and smoke while driving.
Even the vehicles of the police were not spared. They were looking for the driver’s licence and papers of the vehicles belonging to the police. If not found, the vehicles were kept aside. They found several such police vans without licences or registration papers of the transports.
Students stopped a black jeep of deputy inspector general of Naval Police Habib when he was passing through the Karwan Bazar area. They asked for the papers of the vehicle but the vehicle did not have registration papers and the driver also did not have a licence.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police instructed the police to carry licences of the drivers and registration of the vehicles under the current situation of checking licences.
However, the students were assisting the patients carrying ambulances to make room for easy movement.
Such pictures were checking and educating the drivers and riders were seen at various points of the capital.
Though the government announced the shutdown of educational institutions under the current situation, it could not deter the students to gather in the streets to protest the killing incident.
The students carrying a backpack with food and water said they want safe road so that none of their brothers and sisters dies in road accidents.
Several hundreds of students gathered at the Shahbagh intersection and checked the licences of every vehicle. If papers are alright, they were allowed to go but if papers are not found, cases were filed.
The students stopped two vehicles of Border Guard of Bangladesh and asked for drivers’ licences. When the drivers said the papers are at home, the students told them to bring the papers.
The students also stopped the vehicle of the prime minister’s principal secretary Nojibur Rahman who was not in the vehicle. The students wanted to see the driver’s licence but its date was expired. Then the on-duty sergeant Jafar Imama filed a case. He said the car belonged to the principal secretary.
Amid the ongoing movement, the transport owners have lowered the plying of their vehicles in the streets as they are feeling insecurity following the unrest. They said they will ply vehicles when the situation will calm down, organising secretary of Dhaka Road Transport Owners’ Association Mahbubur Rahman told media.
The buses were seen parked on the roadside at Gabtoli inter-district bus terminal where passengers were waiting for hours for a bus to catch to reach destinations.
The vehicular movement came to a standstill at Uttara on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway as students blocked the road in the morning. Even some guardians joined the movement.
Besides the students, their guardians and some other people like media personalities have also expressed their solidarity and stood beside them in the streets. Actors, actress, directors and other artists yesterday stood before Muscat Plaza in Uttara to express their solidarity with students.
Among them, Lutfar Rahman, Rownak Hasan, Mishu, Sabbir, Nadia Ahmed, Safayet, and Sagor Jahan were present. They said, “The student’s movement is the reflection of the people’s demand. We also want the implementation of their demand. We could not come to the streets, but these students have done it. We salute them.”
The students have been carrying out their movement for five days following the incident to students who were killed in a bus accident in the capital on Sunday. – Staff Reporter
