February 3, 2025
DHAKA – People from all walks of life — including patients, elderly — suffer as demonstrations continue in Shyamoli, Mohakhali
Demonstrations on three major streets brought Dhaka traffic to a grinding halt yesterday, forcing commuters, patients and children to walk for hours.
Those injured in the July mass uprising blocked Mirpur Road near Shyamoli, Titumir College students blocked Mohakhali-Gulshan Road, Inquilab Mancha demonstrated on National Eidgah Road near Shikkha Bhaban.
The injured victims, some with life-changing injuries, demanding proper treatment, rehabilitation, and formal recognition of their sacrifice, kept the road blocked for over eight hours.
Titumir students who want the college to be recognised as a university, kept the road blocked for the fourth day.
The Inqilab Mancha, an organisation of mostly students, is of the opinion that Awami League leaders and officials who led the killings during the mass uprising had fled the country because the “state forces” let them to.
The organisation wanted the home adviser to resign over the failure and tried to march to the Secretariat, but police stopped the procession near Shikkha Bhaban where they demonstrated for several hours in the afternoon, blocking Eidgah Road.
On major streets, tailbacks stretched from one part of the city to another.
On top of it all, the first phase of Bishwa Ijtema wrapped up after half past nine in the morning in Tongi. This meant thousands of the devotees began returning to their hometowns, with many needing to travel across the city.
“This is a nightmare for my two ailing daughters. One has an ear infection and another has a fever. My wife and I brought them to the hospital after walking for 40 minutes only to find that the outdoor services have closed,” Muhammad Rabbi told this correspondent at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital.
Around 11:00am, the injured protesters gathered near the in the Agargaon’s Revenue Building, TB Hospital, the National Institute of Ophthalmology, and the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR).
Some had been protesting since Saturday night.
No vehicles were allowed to pass except ambulances. As a result, severe traffic congestion was reported in surrounding areas.
At 3:00pm, the protesters blocked Shishu Mela intersection on Mirpur Road, bringing traffic to a standstill.
Kamrul Hasan, from Birulia, Savar, staged a symbolic protest by hanging a white-pink rope from the pedestrian bridge at Shishu Mela.
Kamrul, injured in the July mass uprising and treated at CRP in Savar, displayed posters reading: “Either state recognition or death by suicide!”
“If we are not recognised, I will voluntarily die, and the state will be responsible for my death. We took bullets for this country, but the state refuses to acknowledge our sacrifices,” he said.
“People like us have been sleeping on the streets. I haven’t eaten anything for two days except water. Meanwhile, those in power have forgotten us, busy doing politics while we suffer.”
Police rerouted Mirpur-bound vehicles from Gabtoli through Mohammadpur to ease traffic, but it had little effect.
Around 6:15pm, the injured protesters left Shishu Mela and gathered in front of the National Institute of Ophthalmology. Some walked, others took rickshaws, and some used wheelchairs as they headed towards the chief adviser’s residence.
The injured protesters arrived at the InterContinental Dhaka around 7:45 pm and encountered a police barricade on their way to the CA residence.
Frustrated by the obstruction, the protesters blocked the road there which was in place as of around 10:15pm.