The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and other opposition parties and alliances on Thursday called a fresh 48-hour countrywide blockade from Sunday morning demanding the resignation of the Awami League government and hand over the power to a party-neutral election-time caretaker administration.
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the fresh blockade programme at the end of the party’s third spell of a 48-hour blockade programme that ended on Thursday amid isolated events of violence as fire service officials reported at least 15 incidents of arson attacks on vehicles between Wednesday morning and Thursday evening.
Rizvi said that the blockade would continue until the one-point demand was met and democracy was restored.
‘The Awami League leaders are endangering the country by clinging to power. They are threatening a foreign ambassador with attacks and belittling international organisations, including the United Nations,’ said Rizvi.
He said that the party would also hold a nationwide dua-mahfil after jumma prayer on Friday for garment workers, who lost their lives during their protests for a hike in the minimum wage.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the Liberal Democratic Party, and Ganatantra Mancha have also announced a similar programme.
On the second day of the third spell of the blockade, a good number of public transports were seen operating on the streets in Dhaka, but the numbers of passengers were low compared to regular days.
The presence of people in most of the private and government offices also increased compared to the previous 48-hour blockade of BNP.
However, like the previous two phases of the blockade, almost all inter-district buses stayed off the streets on the second day of the blockade due to a lack of passengers.
Most inter-district buses were seen parked near terminals with transport works passing idle time. Ticket counters on most buses were closed.
The few inter-district buses that left Sayedabad, Gabtoli, and Moakhali terminals in Dhaka had a low number of passengers.
Md Moin, one of the ticket sellers of Hanif Paribahan at Sayedabad, said that they were ready to operate the bus but could not do so due to a lack of passengers.
He said that only two buses operated until 2:00pm.
Some buses of Ena Paribahan and Shoukhin Paribahan left the Moakhali terminal, but most other counters at the terminal were closed due to the blockade.
Abul Kalam, president of the Mohakhali Inter-District Bus Owners Association, said around 30 buses on the long route operated on Thursday amid the blockade.
He said that usually 700 buses operate from the terminal.
He said that the passenger crisis was the key problem behind the poor number of bus operations on the long route during the blockade.
Darsana Deluxe Paribahan ticket seller Latiful Islam at Gabtoli bus terminal said that the bus owner association had announced to operate the bus amid assurances from enforcement agencies, but the move failed.
‘Following their announcement, we were ready to run the bus, but now we are passing idle time at the counter due to a lack of passengers,’ he said, adding that ‘If we don’t get passengers, we have nothing to do.’
Launch operations at Sadarghat terminal were also disrupted due to a lack of passengers.
The schedule of several launches was cancelled due to a shortage of passengers. The waterway communication was normal otherwise during the blockade,’ said ABS Mahmud, traffic inspector of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.
All trains, however, ran on schedule, according to Saod Masud Sarwar, station master of Kamalapur Railway Station.
He claimed that the blockade had no impact on the train service.
The presence of students at educational institutions that were open witnessed a good number of students despite the blockade on the day.
A good number of members of law enforcement agencies were seen patrolling roads, in and around bus terminals, and on highways to ensure security.
BNP and its associate bodies, as well as other partners of the simultaneous movement, including Gono Odhikar Parishad and the AB Party, brought out brief processions in different parts of the country, including Dhaka.
New Age correspondents from different districts reported that opposition activists mostly blockaded the highways.
Ruling party leaders and activists brought out processions at places protesting the opposition blockade.
