Daylong sufferings

Commuters at Amin Bazar Bridge walk to the capital yesterday as transport workers go for strike demanding the release of BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s special assistant Shimul Biswas who was arrested recently. Buses remain parked in Mohakhali Bus Terminal, inset. Photo: Star

Thousands of commuters in and outside the capital suffered a lot as a 24-hour transport strike was partially observed across the country yesterday.
Hundreds of office-goers, students and people of different professions were seen standing in long queues at different bus stops for public transport during the morning rush hour.
Many of them could not join their offices due to shortage of buses in the city.
Although some buses plied different routes inside Dhaka, Chittagong and other district towns, the movement of long distance vehicles remained suspended all day long.
Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Sramik Federation enforced the strike from 6:00am, demanding immediate release of its leader Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, also a special assistant to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
The other demand of the federation was immediate arrest of the perpetrators, who killed 27 drivers during the opposition’s recent hartals.
Shakila Sharmin, a private job holder, said: “My office is located at Savar. I went to the Shyamoli bus stoppage around 7:00am and had waited for one and a half hours to board a bus.
“At that time, I saw only two to three buses were plying the route and all of them were jam-packed with people.  After failing to board a bus, I returned home.”
Jubayer Ahmed, a student of Dhaka City College, said he missed two classes as he had to wait for more than an hour to get a bus from his home at Demra.
Taking advantage of the situation, rickshaw-pullers and drivers of CNG-run auto-rickshaws charged commuters exorbitantly.
People were seen walking long distances along the footpaths in the city.
Talking to The Daily Star, the federation’s general secretary Osman Ali said, “We have a plan to launch tougher movement, if Shimul Biswas is not released immediately.”
Romesh Chandra Ghosh, managing director of Shyamoli Paribahan, said no inter-district bus of his company operated yesterday.
Our Chittagong correspondent reports: although traffic movement in the port city was normal, vehicles on long distance routes were withdrawn.
Our correspondents from Rangpur, Manikganj, Satkhira, Rajshahi, Pabna and Dinajpur also reported that long-distance or local buses did not leave the terminals in the districts since the strike began in the morning.
Meanwhile, pro-BNP organisations staged demonstrations demanding immediate release of Shimul Biswas.