Left-leaning political leaders on Saturday stressed the need for a collective movement to make the Bangladesh Railway people-friendly and functional.
At a convention they also said people of all classes must be engaged in the movement to save the railway from destruction in the name of privatisation.
Communist Party of Bangladesh and Socialist Party of Bangladesh jointly organised the national convention to save railway at Mukti Bhaban in the capital.
Earlier, from March 31 to April 9 the parties held 75 rallies in 40 districts as part of their movement to make people aware of the issue.
CPB president Mujahidul Islam Selim said the movement to save railway was connected with issues of imperialism, privatisation, neoliberal market system, culture of looting and autocracy.
He announced that they would hold rallies at all rail junctions and stations in the third week of June, collect mass signature at all stations between June 25 and July 25 and submit the signatures to the railways minister at August 8.
Rallies would be held in districts, citizen committee to protect railway would be formed and seize of Rail Bhaban in future if necessary, he added.
While presenting the keynote paper, Work for Better Bangladesh Trust project officer Atiqur Rahman said the number of locomotives and carriages and manpower in railway had decreased after independence.
He said the railway’s budget allocation was increasing while the quality of services was going down.
Regular incidents of derailment and low speed at different sections were causing railway schedule disruption, he said.
SPB central leader Razequzzaman Ratan said railway was victim of combined conspiracy of corrupt officials, contractors, policy makers, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
If railway’s different sections were closed down, its land could be grabbed and road transport businessmen could make more profit, he added.
Energy and power expert Shamsul Alam alleged that the government became desperate to transfer railway’s services and lands to private companies for turning the services into business.
The convention was attended, among others, by CPB general secretary Syed Abu Zafar Ahmed, SPB general secretary Khalequzzaman and central leader Bazlur Rashid Firoz and Mobasser Hossain.
Source: New Age
