After countrywide public suffering and clashes with police, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan has urged workers to “go back to work” citing of “assurances from the government”.
And, after the call of the minister, who is also a top transport leader, long haul buses have started faring from Dhaka’s Gabtoli – the place that was riddled with clashes earlier today.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today called upon the transport leaders to call off their ongoing strike that has forced capital Dhaka and the rest of the country to a corner.
The call was placed in a meeting at Secretariat on the second day of the countrywide strike, for what transport workers say conviction of two fellow drivers in separate road crash cases.
Law Minister Anisul Huq, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, State Minister for Rural Development & Co-operatives Division Moshiur Rahman Ranga were present in the meeting, senior information officer of the ministry Abu Naser told The Daily Star.
Among them, Minister Shajahan Khan is a worker leader and Junior Minister Moshiur Rahman Ranga is the president of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association.
Insiders said, the transport leaders will sit in an internal meeting at Motijheel this afternoon and decide on the strike. An announcement in this regard will be made today.
Yesterday, transport workers took their protests to a bigger scale protesting conviction of two fellow drivers and leaving commuters stranded in Dhaka and all over the country.
Last night, violence ensued in Gabtoli where law enforcers and transport workers stood in a tense standoff – a heat that ensued this morning and resulted in one worker being shot.
Source: The Daily Star
