People suffered immensely as the northern district of Rangpur was made almost detached from the rest of the country on Friday with the suspension of all modes of transport except trains ahead of the rally of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Saturday.

The suffering is likely to mount amid a strike called by transport owners that will continue until 6:00pm on Saturday.

Several Rangpur-bound passengers from Rajshahi claimed that even the state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation suspended the bus service on the route on Friday.

BRTC Rangpur Bus Depot deputy general manager Md Golam Faruq told New Age that they did not stop their operations but had to halt some services considering the safety and security of the people and state property.

‘We will continue services at night and tomorrow as well,’ he said.

No inter-district buses left Rangpur after Friday morning, while no buses reached the city from other districts.

Hundreds of BNP activists from eight neighbouring districts, including Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, and Panchagarh, have been arriving in Rangpur on foot, motorbikes, vans, rickshaws, and other modes of transportation since Thursday night.

Many people were seen crowding the railway stations, which were brimming with BNP supporters on Friday night.

BNP vice-chairman AZM Jahid Hossain alleged that police and the ruling Awami League supporters were provoking and creating obstacles to holding the BNP rally in Rangpur.

At a press conference at the Collectorate Eid Gah Field on Friday afternoon, Jahid said that the party leaders and activists across the country were coming to Rangpur to join the mass rally spontaneously despite the transport strike called by the district Motor Owners Association with the government directive.

‘Police and members of secret agencies are harassing the leaders and activists going to different places. They have been conducting raids at different hotels in the city, where the BNP supporters were staying and intimidating them,’ he added.

He claimed that the government besieged an entire division ahead of the rally, with the general public suffering the most.

Nure Alam Mina, the commissioner of the Rangpur Metropolitan Police, told New Age that the BNP’s allegations were false and a rumour.

‘Police are not conducting raids anywhere or creating any obstacles for the BNP leaders and activists. AL activists are not creating any obstacles,’ he said.

The police commissioner also said that the situation was peaceful in the city.

New Age Staff Correspondent in Rajshahi reported that passengers suffered as the bus communication between Rajshahi and Rangpur were suspended on Friday ahead of the BNP rally in Rangpur, but they were running buses on other routes as per schedule.

In Rangpur, ticket counters were closed and buses were parked in a queue at Kamarpara Dhaka Bus Stop and the Central Bus Terminal of the city.

Rafiqul Islam, manager of Nabil Paribahan, said that they kept the bus services off for the pre-decision of the district Motor Owners association.

Nuru Miah, 40, a passenger at the bus terminal, said that he needed to go to Gaibandha for an urgent requirement.

‘I had to cancel my trip as I found no bus service,’ he said.

Abul Khair Mohammad Masum, 35, a resident of the city, said he did not know about the strike.

‘I along with my wife, came to the bus terminal to go to Jamalpur this morning. But I did not find any buses,’ he said.

Rangpur district Motor Owners Association president Mozzammel Haque said that they had called the strike from Friday at 6.00am to Saturday at 6.00pm in a joint meeting on Wednesday night with Rangpur district Truck Owners Association and Car-Microbus Owners Association demanding the withdrawal of three-wheelers from the Rangpur-Kurigram road.

 ‘We called the strike, urging the authorities concerned to meet our demands. Our strike has no connection with the BNP’s rally,’ he said.

The presence of three-wheelers, however, was very low on the highway on Friday.

The last BNP mass rally was held in Khulna on October 22 amid bus and launch strikes, attacks, arrests, and intimidation, while no trawlers, ferries, or boats were allowed to anchor in jetties near the city.

Ahead of the pre-scheduled Khulna divisional rally, the Khulna bus owners’ association stopped running buses from October 21 morning to October 22 afternoon, protesting against the movement of unauthorised three-wheelers on the highways.

A similar announcement was made on Tuesday for a strike for two days in Barishal ahead of the BNP’s mass rally on November 5.

BNP Rangpur city unit president, Shamsuzzaman Samu, told New Age that the BNP leaders and activists were facing obstacles from the ruling AL in holding rallies everywhere and Rangpur was no exception.

‘Party men are coming to Rangpur to join the rally amid the harassment and obstacles on the road. We vowed to hold the mass rally in Rangpur despite the obstacles and harassment,’ he said.

He also said many leaders and activists from across the country had already reached the city, defying the bus strike by van, rickshaw, and even by walking.

‘They took shelter in different hotels and even open spaces, setting up makeshift tents,’ he added.

Abul Kashem, an activist of Jatiayatabadi Juba Dall from the Shilkhuri union under the Vhurugamari upazilla of Kurigram district, said that he, along with some other party activists, came to Kurigram by motorcycle on Friday morning before travelling to Rangpur by van.

AL city unit general secretary Tushar Kanti Mandal, meanwhile, at a press conference in the Betpatti area of the city, said that they want BNP to hold its rally peacefully and want to cooperate with them.

‘But BNP men were trying to provoke us,’ he said.

He alleged that BNP supporters tore the posters of the government’s development work on different billboards.

On September 28, the BNP announced plans to hold mass rallies in the divisional city headquarters for the next two months as part of its ongoing movement demanding the resignation of the AL-led government and the release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, protesting at the abnormal increase in the price of fuel oil and daily commodities and the killing of BNP leaders and activists.

As per the schedule announced by the party, it organized rallies in Chattogram on October 12, Mymensingh on October 15, and Khulna on October 22, and their next rallies are scheduled for Barishal on November 5, Faridpur on November 12, Sylhet on November 19, Cumilla on November 26, Rajshahi on December 3 and Dhaka on December 10.