Agitating students and jobseekers on Monday blocked railway tracks in addition to roads and highways across the country, causing immense sufferings for thousands of people.
As part of their protest programme, they have been blocking city streets and major highways across the country since Saturday to press home their demands, including the cancellation of the quota system in government jobs and the reinstatement of the 2018 circular.
Protestors extended their blockade to railway lines in different parts of the country, disrupting rail communications. Passengers suffered a lot as rail communications between Dhaka, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, and other regions were disrupted due to the blockade on Monday.
Thousands of people who were travelling by trains to avoid blocked roads and traffic congestion faced significant inconvenience as the students put up barricades on the railways.
People from all walks of life were severely impacted as the nationwide blockade halted vehicular movement, causing extensive delays and disruptions.
According to the pre-announced time of ‘Bangla Blockade’ programme, important points, highways and railway lines were blocked simultaneously from 3:00pm to 7:00pm across the country.
The blockade resulted in severe traffic congestion, bringing the capital city to almost standstill and significantly inconveniencing thousands of commuters on the highways.
As part of the ‘Bangla Blockade’ programme, students blocked roads
in Dhaka city, and different points on Dhaka-Aricha and Dhaka-Rangpur highways to protest the reinstatement of the quota system in government jobs.
Hundreds of students from Rajshahi University blocked the Dhaka-Rajshahi railway line as part of the nationwide “Bangla Blockade”. The blockade has disrupted rail communications between Rajshahi and other parts of the country.
The protest began with a procession from the university’s Paris Road. It moved around various academic buildings before reaching the railway line adjacent to the university, which they blocked at 12:00 pm.
Besides blocking the railway, the students also obstructed four roads at the junction. They remained on the railway track until 2:00pm on Monday.
Ahasan Ullah Bhuiyan, chief operating superintendent of Railway West Zone, said the rail line blockade has halted railway connectivity between the north zone and the rest of the country.
The rail communications between Dhaka and Mymensingh remained suspended for two hours on Monday as students from Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh railway.
The students put up barricade at Jabbarer Mor around 1:30 pm, halting the Jamalpur Express from Dhaka and disrupting train services. Train communications resumed at 3:10 pm after the students left the rail tracks.
In the capital, anti-quota protesters blocked roads at Shahbagh, Chankharpul, Farmgate, Science Lab intersection, Agargaon, Gulistan, Tantibazar and Paltan areas.
Hundreds of Dhaka University (DU) students gathered in front of the Dhaka University Central Library, brought out a procession around 3:30pm, and paraded several streets on the campus. They blocked Shahbagh intersection at 4:07pm, holding up traffic on the surrounding roads for hours.
Students of Dhaka College and Eden College blocked the Science Laboratory intersection at around 4:00 pm on Monday. Immediately after putting up the blockade, vehicular movement came to a halt at the crossing.
A section of DU students also blocked Chankharpul intersection near Mayor Hanif Flyover around 3:30 pm.
The students of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University blocked the road near their university at Agargaon around 4:15 pm.
The protestors also blocked rail line at Kawran Bazar area at about 6:30 pm.
The students of Jagannath University (JnU) staged ‘Bangla Blockade’ programme blocking Zero Point at Gulistan in the capital on Monday. As a result, hundreds of vehicles got stuck on the roads around this key intersection of the capital. Students took position at zero point around 4:30 pm.
Earlier, after 3:00 pm, they marched towards Gulistan with a procession from Kanthaltala on the campus. At this time, the police obstructed them three times under the Hanif flyover at Tantibazar intersection, Bangshal and Fulbaria, but the students ignored the obstacles and proceeded towards the zero point.
Students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) have blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway. Hundreds of students gathered in front of the university’s central library at 3:00 pm. Later, the students took out a procession to the main gate adjacent to Dairy Gate via Shaheed Minar of the university.
Begum Rokeya University students staged protests by blocking the Rangpur-Dhaka highway demanding reform of the quota system. This programme was held at Modern intersection in Rangpur city under the banner of general students of the university from 12:00 pm. At this time, the students said that their programme will continue until the quota system is reformed.
The High Court on 5 June ordered the government to retain the 30 per cent freedom fighter quota in government jobs. It also declared illegal the circular issued on 4 October 2018, cancelling the quota system.
Soon after the verdict, students announced their non-stop movement.
The students demanded abolition of unreasonable and discriminatory quotas in all grades of government jobs and reform of the quota system by passing a law in parliament, ensuring fairness for the backward groups and those with special needs.
