After staging daylong road blockades in parts of the country, students of public and private polytechnic institutes announced a countrywide rail blockade for tomorrow (Thursday) as part of their ongoing movement to press six-point demands.
The announcement came in the evening from Zubayer Patwary, a representative of the Technical Students’ Movement, at Tejgaon’s Satrasta point.
He said that although the road blockade programme has been withdrawn for the day, the movement is far from over. "We are now preparing to block the railway communication network across the country as part of our next course of action," he said.
According to Zubayer, a meeting was held earlier with the Director General of the Directorate of Technical Education Shoaib Ahmed Khan, the principal of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute, and other officials. However, no agreement was reached as the authorities did not provide any written assurance to meet their demands.
"That is why we are going forward with the nationwide rail blockade tomorrow (Thursday)," Zubayer said, urging polytechnic students from across the country to join and make the programme a success.
Earlier vehicular movement came to a standstill on major city routes on Tuesday after demonstrators blocked the Saat Rasta intersection in Tejgaon from around 10:30am.
The blockade severely disrupted traffic movement from 11:30 am towards Uttara, Gulistan, and Sayedabad, causing immense suffering for thousands of commuters.
Officials from the police and other law enforcement agencies attempted to persuade the protesters to clear the road, but their efforts were unsuccessful. Later, the traffic department issued alternative route directives for city dwellers.
Traffic remained suspended on the Saat Rasta road until the evening. The situation returned to normal after the blockade was withdrawn, according to officials.
MSH
