Obstruction, searches along the way

There were no such programmes as hartal or transport strike. Yet, Mymensingh city remained 'almost isolated' from the rest of the country on Saturday.

No buses from the surrounding districts travelled towards Mymensingh. Even, vehicles like auto-rickshaws were unable to enter this divisional town.

A situation like this was created so that leaders and activists from other districts cannot participate in the BNP rally in Mymensingh city.

BNP leaders and workers had to face various problems in joining the mass rally for the obstructions, police searches or show down of AL leaders-activists. This ‘scheme’ employed to prevent BNP caused sufferings to common people as well.

Transport leaders however claim that drivers were reluctant to bring the buses on the streets fearing vandalism.

Along with the leaders and activists of BNP, general people had to face harassment and obstruction along the way while travelling by alternative means (CNG-powered auto-rickshaws, microbuses, cars, trucks), being unable to find a bus.

In fact, there has been an incident of a laborer being butchered seriously in Mymensigh’s Gafargaon on suspicion of him going to attend the rally.

BNP held the mass rally on the Polytechnic Institute ground in Mymensigh town on Saturday afternoon, as part of their central programme demanding election-time caretaker government as well as protesting the price hike of fuel oil and daily commodities.

Earlier, the bus service between Mymensingh and its surrounding districts started closing down gradually from Friday night already. No bus left the capital for Mymensingh on Saturday morning.

Likewise, bus services to Mymensingh from Jamalpur, Netrakona, Sherpur, Kishoreganj and Tangail were closed too. According to BNP leaders, the government shut down the bus service premeditatedly just to disrupt the mass gathering.

Mymensigh district Awami League general secretary Moazzem Hossain however has denied blocking BNP leaders-activists.

He told Prothom Alo, those are fabricated allegations. On the opposite, BNP attacked a peaceful Awami League procession at Mymensingh railway station area (Saturday afternoon), which resulted in two Awami League members being injured.

Visiting the area between Chandana intersection and Trishal bazar on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway on Saturday morning from 9 to 11 am, AL leaders-activists were found on some streets with sticks in their hands or with processions on others.

Similarly, AL leaders-activists were seen stranding with processions at different parts of Bhaluka and Gazipur’s Sreepur.

There have been allegations of searching vehicles, beating up drivers as well as misbehaving with passengers during this time.

At around 11.00am, a crowd of almost 200 AL leaders-activists was seen in front of Trishal bazar on the highway (on the way to Mymensingh). Some of them had sticks in their hand, while others had plunks of wood. Positioning themselves right in the middle of the road, they stopped trucks, pickups or minibus for search as well as interrogated the passengers.

About 100 metres away from Trishal bazar, this reporter talked to a truck driver named Md Rokonuzzaman. He said, “I repeatedly asked them to let the vehicle pass. But, they didn’t listen. When I tried speeding away, they slapped me over and over again.”

To know about AL leaders occupying the streets with sticks Prothom Alo talked to the acting officer in-charge of Trishal police station Md Mainuddin. He claimed, there were no such incidents and he didn’t see anyone on the streets.

A labourer was slashed with knives in Gafargaon upazila of Mymensingh on suspicion of his going to join BNP rally. The incident occurred at Uthuri intersection of the upazila around 11.00am on Saturday.

The injured man is named Mobarak Hossain (33). He is from Aluddia village of Netrakona’s Barhatta upazila. He endured a deep wound on his right wrist.

While talking on this Gafargaon police station officer in-charge Faruk Ahmed said, he is unaware of any such incident at Uthuri intersection.

However, Prothom Alo talked to injured Mobarak Hossain on the phone. He said he lives in Kishoreganj and was going to Gafargaon via Kishoreganj’s Hosainpur along with some other people to work at a wedding event on a Tomtom (battery-run auto-rickshaw).

On the way, a group of miscreants intercepted them at Gafargaon’s Uthuri intersection. Without giving them a chance to speak, they started beating everyone up suspecting that they were going to the BNP rally. At one point, a machete came down on his right hand, he added.

One can board a bus bound for Jamalpur, Netrakona and Sherpur districts of Mymensingh division from Abdullahpur intersection in the capital.

Bus service starts from five in the morning. However, no Myymensingh-bound bus travelled on this route from Saturday morning. In fact, no Mymensigh-bound bus left from capital’s Mohakhali either.

Hundreds of commuters fell in trouble for the bus service being closed down. One of those hundreds is a woman named Kamrunnahar. This woman from Mymensingh’s Charpara area came to her sister’s home in Dhaka’s Mirpur for a few days.

She bought a ticket of Ena Paribahan (a bus service company) from Mohakhali bus counter on Friday afternoon. The bus was scheduled for departure on Saturday morning. But, when she arrived at the counter on time she found it shut.

Later, she went to Abdullahpur hiring a private car. While talking to Prothom Alo there Kamrunnahar said, someone suggested there will be busses available at Abdullahpur. However, she found none when she arrived there. She couldn’t fathom how she could travel home.

Likewise, bus service from Netrakona to Dhaka via Mymensingh was also got closed from last Friday afternoon. Even, auto-rickshaws were not allowed to travel this route on Saturday morning. AL leaders-activists were seen interrogating passengers taking them down from auto-rickshaws along the way.

Going to Dhaka bus stand in Parla area of ​​Netrakona Sadar on Saturday 10 am, no bus was seen leaving. CNG-powered auto-rickshaws travel to Mymensingh from here as well.

Even, the number of auto-rickshaws on the streets was less on Sunday. The few auto-rickshaws that came to the streets in the morning, charged double.

Auto-rickshaw driver Ramiz Uddin said, he had left for Mymensingh charging Tk 160 per passenger. However, his auto-rickshaw was vandalised at Kashiganj area on the way. He then returned leaving the passengers.

Police search in Netrakona town and its surrounding areas rose abruptly on Saturday. There were police check posts set at Muktarpara bridge, Sakua area adjacent to Parla bus stand, Rajur Bazar on Netrokona-Mohanganj road and Banuapara on Netrokona-Madan road.

District police super Md Faiz Ahmed says police did not set up any checkpoints aiming to obstruct the rally. This falls under their regular duty.

However, member secretary of Netrakona district BNP unit Md Rafiqul Islam said that police searched vehicles at various points of Netrakona town to disrupt the BNP rally. Police even let the leaders-activists down from the auto-rickshaw, he added.

Mymensingh-bound buses and CNG-powered auto-rickshaws stopped moving on this route from Friday night. The counter of Dhaka-bound bus at vocational area of ​​Jamalpur was found shut in the morning.

However, Jamalpur district bus-minibus workers' union president Mahbub Alam told Prothom Alo over the phone there were no instructions to stop the buses. Drivers would not drive fearing vandalism, which is quite often during rallies.

Similarly, buses travelling on Sherpur-Dhaka route via Mymensingh were also suspended from Saturday morning. Sherpur district bus coach owners’ association general secretary Sujit Kumar Ghosh said that bus service was stopped for security reasons centering the BNP rally.

As bus movement was stopped, many BNP leaders-activists went to Mymensingh from Sherpur crossing the Brahmaputra River on engine-powered boats (trawler).

It took about two hours for them to reach Mymensingh from Sherpur’s Satpakia Ghat. Vice-president of Sherpur BNP Mokhleshur Rahman said that at least 10 trawlers left for Mymensingh in between 9 to 11.30am.

Bus service was suspended on Tangail-Mymensingh route too. Joint convener of Tangail BNP Farhad Iqbal said they had no plan of joining the rally in Mymensingh. However, leaders-activists who were supposed to join from Madhupur took an alternative route, for there was no bus.

Since Friday night to Saturday afternoon, no bus was seen leaving Kishoreganj's Gaital bus stand for Mymensingh.

Kamal Uddin, a resident of Kishoreganj’s Itna came to Gaital bus stand Saturday morning. He was supposed to visit his daughter in Mymensingh. He was found waiting at the bus terminal for a long time.

Later Kaml Uddin told Prothom Alo, “We are not involved in BNP politics. Then why do we have to suffer like this? My daughter studies in Mymensingh. I just wanted to go to see her hearing of her illness.”

Centering the rally, buses did not operate even on internal and inter-district routes of Mymensingh. However, district police super Masum Ahmed Bhuyan said, he doesn’t know the matter of buses being stopped.

Despite there being obstacles on the way, presence of BNP leaders-activists in the mass rally on Polytechnic Institute ground in Mymensingh was quite noticeable.

Many arrived in Mymensingh by train knowing there would be obstructions on roads. Several hundreds of leaders-activists spent Friday night on the Polytechnic Institute grounds. Some of them slept on mats, while some spent the night in chatting.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said in his Saturday speech, “As soon as we crossed Gazipur on our way from Dhaka, we saw there were no vehicles on the road. It felt so strange, as if there was a hartal or curfew going on!”

“Moving further ahead, we found our activists going towards Mymensingh on smaller trucks. I also heard that fine boys (referring to Chhatra League) are standing on the streets with sticks.”