Sajek road blockade suspended for six days
Protesters have suspended their second round of an indefinite blockade on the Sajek tourist road in Baghaichhari upazila of Rangamati for six days.
The blockade will remain suspended from tomorrow, Friday, until 21 October to allow celebrations of Sharadiya Durga Puja.
Vehicle movement has begun returning to normal following the suspension, and the administration has also lifted its restrictions.
The decision was announced in a press release issued on Thursday evening and signed by Nutun Joy Chakma, president of the Sajek Karbari Association, and Babudhan Chakma, convener of the Sajek People's Rights Protection Committee.
The release said the blockade had been suspended in response to a special request from the Sajek Machalong Bazar Durga Puja Celebration Committee and out of respect for the religious festival.
“Like elsewhere in the country, Durga Puja will be celebrated at Sajek Machalong Bazar from tomorrow. To ensure a peaceful environment for the religious festival and facilitate the movement of devotees, our previously announced road blockade will remain suspended from 16 to 21 October,” the leaders said in the release.
The protesters, however, said they would resume their movement after Durga Puja if the administration failed to implement their three-point demand. They said their next course of action would be announced in a press release.
Earlier, at 6am on Thursday, leaders and activists of the Sajek People's Rights Protection Committee and the Sajek Karbari Association launched the second round of an indefinite blockade on the Sajek tourist road.
They staged protests by setting fire to tyres and tree trunks at several points along the road.
The blockade was enforced at several locations, including area No. 10 in Baghaichhari, Gangaram Bridge and the 14-kilometre point in Machalong. Vehicle movement to Sajek came to a halt, leaving tourists and local residents stranded and causing considerable suffering.
One of the protesters' three demands is the withdrawal of armed members of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (JSS), led by Santu Larma, from the Sajek area.
They had first announced an indefinite blockade on 11 October over the same demand. The programme was suspended for 48 hours that afternoon following assurances from the administration. On Wednesday, leaders of the two organisations announced a second round of the blockade in a joint statement.
The statement alleged that armed JSS members were active in Sajek and were threatening and intimidating local residents. The organisations said they had given the administration a deadline to take action against them but decided to enforce the blockade after no effective measures were taken.
The JSS denied the allegations. Its publicity secretary, Sajib Chakma, told Prothom Alo that the accusations were intended to divert attention from what he described as long-standing oppression and harassment of ordinary people in Sajek by armed members of the United People's Democratic Front (UPDF). He also claimed the two organisations had announced the blockade under pressure from the UPDF.
Tourist vehicles were stranded in Sajek last Sunday because of the blockade. The district administration temporarily closed Sajek that evening, citing security concerns.
Asked about the situation, Sajek police station Officer-in-Charge Tofazzal Hossain said tree trunks had been placed across the road at several points during the blockade, halting traffic. However, the law and order situation in the area remained normal, he added.