Passengers and transport workers terribly suffered as students of Government Titumir College blocked rail lines and roads in Mohakhali area in the capital for over four hours on Monday, demanding transformation of their college into university.
The blockade sent the traffic to almost a standstill for hours and caused trains to fall much behind schedules.聽
The blockade on the Mohakhali level crossing snapped rail communications between Dhaka and the rest of the country for four and half an hours on the day.
Some train passengers were allegedly got injured as the students pelted stone and brick chips at a train as it was crossing Mohakhali.
Interim government chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam in a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy on the day urged the students to stay calm.
He also mentioned that discussion was ongoing on seven colleges affiliated to Dhaka University and they were hoping for a quick solution.
The students in a Facebook post in the evening announced an indefinite boycott of all classes and examinations from Tuesday.聽聽
About 11:00am on the day, several hundred Government Titumir College students started a procession from the college premises as per a pre-scheduled programme titled 鈥楤arasat Barricade to Mohakhali鈥�, pressing for several demands.聽
Their demands are鈥搒crapping affiliation of seven colleges to Dhaka University and then separate Titumir College from six other colleges; formation of a commission to transform Titumir College to university; and formation of an implementation roadmap for the transformation.聽
The students took position at the Mohakhali level crossing area about 11:30am.
At about 11:45am when the Upukul Express from Noakhali was entering Dhaka the students gave the train signal to stop, Dhaka Railway station sub-inspector SM Rakibul Haque said.
As the train was kept going defying the signal some students threw stones which injured few passengers, he said, adding that after the train crossed the students again sat on the track.
Rakibul also said that a general diary had been filed with the station in this regard.
Following the blockade rail communications between Dhaka and rest of the country was snapped about 12 noon.
Hundreds of passengers on the busy hour became stranded inside the trains and different rail stations across the country.
The blockade also caused vehicular movement on roads from and to Mohakhali to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to halt creating terrible traffic congestion.
Traffic gridlock spread to Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Rampura, Karwan Bazar, Farmgate, Uttara, Kuril and Banani and other areas around Mohakhali.
People were seen walking and transport workers were seen asking extra for fare at different areas.
In social media many people expressed their anger and frustration over the way of realising demands.
About 4:00pm the students lifted the blockade and moved to their college.
Same time a 12-member representative team of the students went to the Secretariat to meet the education ministry officials.
Later in the evening, some protesting students took position in front of the college.
Government Titumir College principal Shipra Rani Mondal told 抖阴精品 about 8:00pm that students were still inside the college, while she had yet not received any message from the ministry on the protest.
United News of Bangladesh also reported that several people, including children, were injured in an attack on a train when Titumir College students blocked rail tracks at Mohakhali in the capital.
Dhaka Railway station officer-in-charge Zainal Abedin said that four Dhaka-bound trains and another train that was set to leave Dhaka remained stranded since the students put barricades on the rail tracks in the morning.
