People suffer immensely as Titumir College students block roads
Jahangir Alam came from Keshabpur in Jashore to Dhaka for his sister’s chemotherapy session at the Cancer Hospital in Mohakhali. He was about to return today, Monday, after the chemotherapy session. But no bus was available when he came out of the hospital with her sister Monday afternoon due to a blockade of the students of Government Titumir College.
They took to the street for the fifth consecutive day on Monday demanding to press home their demand for Titumir College to be declared a university.
They blocked the Mohakhali-Gulshan road at around 12:15 pm. Traffic movements on either side of the road have stopped since then, creating extreme hassle for passengers on public transport as vehicles stuck on the road or who had scheduled appointments or plans to go somewhere.
Jahangir Alam of Keshabpur was one of them. This correspondent spoke to him around 2:30 pm today. He was walking towards the Amtali intersection with luggage. His cancer patient sister was with him.
Jahangir Alam told Prothom Alo, “The students have blocked the road. No bus is available at the moment. We wanted to take a rickshaw. But the rickshaw pullers said the students won’t allow any rickshaw to cross their college. So it’s not possible to go to Mohakhali intersection through a rickshaw either. The rickshaw puller also demanded extra money. So we are now walking. But my sister is suffering. She has already stopped twice to walk a little on the way from the hospital to the college.”
The Titumir College students put bamboos in front of their college to block the road around 12:20 pm, which stopped the vehicular movement on both sides of the road. The students were not allowing any vehicle to pass except ambulances carrying patients.
Many were seen getting off their transport and walking towards their destinations. Some of them were carrying heavy luggage, some were carrying their children and some were seen helping their elderly parents to walk the rest of the path. Some of them were seen protesting for the public's sufferings.
Rajab Ali and his wife Rasheda Begum were such a couple who went through immense sufferings on the road today. Rasheda Begum had a bandage on her left arm. They were seen walking carefully to not put pressure on that already hand. This correspondent spoke to the couple in front of Titumir College.
Auto driver Rajjab Ali of Dhamrai said, “No transport is available here. The rickshaw pullers are demanding twice or thrice the regular fare. There is no way to hire any transport due to the blockade. Now there is no way other than walking. They (protesting students) should realise the public suffering caused by them. If they don’t understand the sufferings of people, then who will?”
Although no vehicles were allowed to go directly from Mohakhali to Gulshan, rickshaws and battery-run auto-rickshaws were available along the roads from Mohakhali to Titumir College and Gulshan to Titumir college.
However, the rickshaw pullers are charging extra. They were demanding Tk 30 per head to carry the passengers from Mohakhali to Titumir college. As such the fare for two persons would be Tk 60, which is enough to go from Mohakhali to Gulshan directly on normal days.
A number of daily commuters were seen engaging in scuffles with the rickshaw pullers over the fair. Being fed up with the movement, many people were seen using abusive words against the students. Some even argued with the students over the validity of their demand.
Private firm employee Shahjahan Uddin said, “Roads are being blocked at whim these days. The administration is not intervening either. But it is us, the common people, who are suffering the most. It is us, who have to endure all these sufferings. Meanwhile, the rickshaw pullers are charging extra, taking advantage of the situation. Can’t the government see the sufferings of common people?
After blocking the road for three hours, the students brought out a procession and moved towards the Amtali intersection. Upon reaching there, they blocked the railway track in Mohakhali around 3:45 pm.
Following that, traffic movement completely stopped along the routes from Jahangir Gate to Gulshan and Banani through Mohakhali (the road beneath the flyover) and from Gulshan to Bijay Sarani.
The situation remained the same as of 6:00 pm today.