People suffered as several hundred protesters on Friday blocked the Shahbagh crossing in the capital Dhaka, pressing five-point demand, including construction of a bridge connecting Bhola and Barishal districts.
Demonstrators, including Bhola people and Dhaka residents hailing from Bhola, kept the capital’s busy crossing blocked for about three hours from 3:30pm, halting vehicular movement there and causing immense suffering to commuters.
Their demands also included establishment of a public university and medical college in Bhola, the setting up of gas connections, and other infrastructural developments in the district.
Patients, their attendants, physicians and other medical staff also suffered due to the blockade as the country’s two largest hospitals, Bangladesh Medical University and BIRDEM, are located adjacent to the crossing.
Shahbagh police station officer-in-charge Md Khalid Mansur told New Age that police tried to convince the demonstrators to clear the road, but they refused to do so till 6:30pm.
‘We had to divert vehicles at different points to ease the sufferings of commuters,’ said the police official, adding that additional police were deployed and a barricade on the road towards the Bangla Motor area was placed to prevent any untoward incident.
Sharif Howlader, a coordinator of the demonstration, announced the suspension of the blockade for the day in the evening.
Issuing an ultimatum to the government till 12:00pm on Monday, he announced that Bhola power plant would be shut down and gas supply from the district would be stopped if the authorities failed to meet their demands by that time.
He also announced that residents of different districts hailing from Bhola would stage demonstrations across the country today.
Earlier, a group of students under the banner of ‘Amra-Bholabasi’ on November 14 blocked a convoy carrying interim government’s three advisers, power and energy adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, industries adviser Adilur Rahman Khan and commerce adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin, during their visit to Bhola, pressing the demands.
The previous government had planned to construct a bridge connecting Bhola and Barishal over the river Tentulia and Kalabador.