No crowd at Benapole immigration due to BJP demonstration
Around 1:45pm on Tuesday, the immigration and international passenger terminal at the Benapole land port in Jashore was found unusually quiet, with no crowd of inbound or outbound passengers.
Most immigration officials were sitting idle, while workers were found with no usual tasks. Some who returned from India expressed concerns over the situation.
Hiralal Das, a resident of Nangalkot upazila in Cumilla, returned from India with a small bag. Sharing his experience, he said he came to know yesterday that there was a massive protest at the Petrapole border in India. Therefore, he returned home without buying anything. He only brought clothes in his bag, fearing whether he would be allowed to bring his belongings.
“I went to Barasat in Kolkata to visit my relatives 10 days ago. There was a huge pressure at the Benapole port on the day of departure. It took two to three hours to complete immigration. But today, it completed in just 15 to 20 minutes at both Petrapole and Benapole. There is almost no pressure of passengers.”
Buddhadev Bagchi, a resident of Bangaon in West Bengal, was returning to India after visiting relatives in Bangladesh. He said, “When I came to Bangladesh a few days ago, the port was extremely crowded. Today, it feels almost deserted. I don’t understand why.”
It was learned through conversations with the people at the Benapole port that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a blockade and protest at the Petrapole border in West Bengal on Monday. They gathered near the Petrapole zero line and chanted slogans against Bangladesh.
The demonstration halted passenger movement and export-import trade for an hour. Regular activities resumed there following their protests.
According to Benapole immigration sources, around 1,500 passengers traveled between Bangladesh and India by 1pm on Tuesday, with 775 departing Bangladesh for India and 769 returning.
The movement of passengers continues until 6pm, but the pressure remains high until 2pm. The immigration police said they were expecting 300 to 400 more travelers on the day. Around 4,000 people traveled through the land port on the previous day, significantly fewer than the daily average of 7,000–8,000 before 5 August.
Imtiaz Md Ahsanul Quader Bhuiyan, officer-in-charge (OC) of the immigration police, attributed the decline to the political situation.
“The number of passengers may decrease due to the country’s political circumstances. Moreover, most of the passengers have Indian visas with validity until 15 December. The number of passengers will decrease gradually everyday,” he added.
As of 2pm on Tuesday, some 600 trucks loaded with goods were waiting at Petrapole to enter Bangladesh.
Sajedur Rahman, general secretary of the Benapole import and export staff association, noted a decrease in trade since 5 August but stated that the Petrapole protest had minimal impact.
As of 2pm, some 105 trucks entered Bangladesh from India with commodities, while 100 trucks to India from Bangladesh. On the previous day, the number of trucks entering Bangladesh from India was 243, and trucks entering India from Bangladesh were numbered at 201.