Strike ends as BNP concludes Rangpur rally

Transport strike in Rangpur caused immense sufferings to the people in the north of the country for the past two days.

The divisional mass rally of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party was held in Rangpur city on Saturday amid a huge gathering and the sufferings of people due to transport strikes, attacks and harassment.

Soon after the rally concluded around 5:00pm, buses resumed their services after keeping them suspended since Friday, virtually cutting off the city from the rest of the country.

BNP leaders and activists alleged that many of them were obstructed from joining the rally from Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, and Panchagarh through transport strikes and attacks by the ruling Awami League activists on roads.

The BNP secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, asked at the rally that if the government was not afraid of people, why it had stopped the vehicles two days before the rally.

As the buses were off the roads due to a 36-hour transport strike called by the Rangpur district Motor Owners Association starting at 6:00am on Friday, the BNP activists from other districts continued to arrive in Rangpur early on Friday by auto-rickshaws, rickshaws, engine-vans, bicycles, trains, and even on foot.

Hundreds of party leaders and activists from neighbouring districts arrived in the city by Friday evening, and the arrival of the activists at the rally venue continued throughout the night.

The strike was called, however, against the movement of unauthorised three-wheelers on the highways.

No buses, including the state-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation, left Rajshahi for Rangpur on the day.

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

Several thousand party activists from the neighbouring districts joined the rally spontaneously, defying the strike.

The crowd gathered about two kilometres around the venue during the rally, while local people also spontaneously participated in the rally.

The Collectorate Eidgah ground, where the divisional rally was held, had been swarmed with BNP supporters and activists since the morning.

Leaders and activists arrived in groups, holding processions and chanting slogans.

The city, however, had a different look on Saturday, with a handful of rickshaws and autos taking the streets for passengers, and BNP supporters occupying most of the streets.

Many BNP leaders and activists also joined the rally from Bogura, Joypurhat, and other districts besides the districts of the Rangpur division.

People were seen sleeping in hotels, student messes, city residents’ homes, warehouses, and even under the open sky erecting tents in the city.

Bablu Miah, 50 a Holokhana union leader of Kurigram Sadar upazila unit BNP, said that he came with a group of 700 people on three-wheelers around 9:00pm on Friday.

The three-wheelers dropped the group from the Sathmatha area on the outskirts of the city and they walked at least three kilometres to reach the venue.

Due to the strike, we had to travel in the vans throughout the night for what is normally a two-hour journey.

Amirul Islam, 55, a BNP supporter hailing from Saghata upazilla of Gaibandha district, said their group reached the city on Friday night by manually driven three-wheelers.

They spent the night in an open space, erecting tents.

The party’s Kaharol upazila joint convener, Mostafizur Rahman, 45, died of cardiac arrest at the venue of the party’s divisional mass rally. He felt sick at the venue and was transferred to RMCH, where the on-duty physician declared him dead.

The death of the BNP leader was confirmed through an announcement on loudspeakers during the rally.

Physically challenged BNP supporter Azizul Islam, 60, from Hatiya union under Ulipur upazilla of Kurigram, said he faced huge trouble reaching Rangpur on Friday night.

He travelled by rickshaw van, spending Tk 800. The police at Teesta River Bridge intercepted him and asked him to let them know about his destination. They let him continue his journey after a brief interrogation.

Despite the transport strike, Rangpur BRTC general manager Golam Faruk claimed that their service continued as usual.

Soon after the rally concluded around 5.00 pm, SaifuI Islam, an employee of SR Travels at Kamarpara bus station, was seen starting to sell tickets for the Dhaka-bound night journey of their bus.

Bangladesh Railway general manager for the west zone, Asim Kumar Talukder, said that train services on Rangpur routes were normal on the day.

New Age Staff Correspondent in Rajshahi reported that passengers suffered on Saturday as the bus communication between Rajshahi and Rangpur were suspended for the second consecutive day.

No buses, including the state-owned BRTC, left Rajshahi for Rangpur on the day.

Buses on other routes, though, ran as usual.

Motiul Haque, acting general secretary of Rajshahi Road Transport Group, told New Age that they had suspended bus services on the Rajshahi-Rangpur route following the strike called by Rangpur transport owners.

Nazrul Islam, a counter master at the Rajshahi BRTC office, said that they did not stop their operations but had to halt some services considering the safety and security of the people and state property.

Passenger Rubel Hoque, who was waiting at the BRTC bus counter, alleged that it was not appropriate to stop the BRTC buses due to the BNP’s programme in Rangpur.

He said that he would now go to Bogura first and then try to reach Rangpur by other means.

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.

It organised rallies in Chattogram on October 12 amid arrests and attacks, Mymensingh on October 15 amid a sudden transport strike, and Khulna on October 22 amid bus and launch a strike, attacks and arrests.

In Barishal, the rally is scheduled to be held on November 5 but the transport owners have already announced a strike on November 4-5.