The road to Dhaka has never seemed more difficult.
Buses to
Dhaka from the districts have stopped, so are river launches and
passengers being heavily searched in trains to prevent possible
agitators from making it to the capital.
Transport owners say
they are not plying buses or launches after being warned of possible
sabotage but BNP alleges that the government is raising heckles to foil
the march.
And those who have managed to reach to Dhaka from the
districts, braving all odds, the challenge is now to find a transport
to reach home. Buses are few and far between on the streets of Dhaka as
well.
The unprecedented misery that travellers are facing is
because of the showdown between the government, which is determined to
hold the Jan 5 parliament polls, and the Opposition which is determined
to foil it.
The main Opposition BNP has called for a 'march to
Dhaka' from all over Bangladesh to pressurise the government into
cancelling the Jan 5 polls.
The government, run by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is determined to foil the march and hold the polls.
So
the word has gone out that transport owners should go off the road and
river to make it difficult for agitators to reach ahead of the Dec 29
'march to Dhaka' that BNP proposes to end with a rally in front of its
central party office at Naya Paltan.
As the countdown begins on the Dec 29 showdown, the country is bracing for the worst.
Mahmudur Rahman says he has been waiting at Mohammadpur Bus Stand to go to Mirpur.
Angry
with politicians who he feels are responsible for this, he said, "What
kind of politics it is that do not bring any welfare to people."
Large
number of people was seen waiting for buses at Shahbagh, Bangla Motor,
Maghbazar, Mohammadpur, Asadgate, Mohakhali and many such places for
going to office.
Many of them started for office on foot or by rickshaw as they could not find any bus.
Rickshaws were seen running along main roads in the capital.
Talking to
bdnews24.com,
Bikalpa Paribahan's manager Md Rubel Mia said no car would come out on
the streets because of security concerns on Saturday and Sunday.
No
buses were seen leaving Sayedabad, Gabtali and Mohakhali long-haul bus
terminals, nor did any bus come there from any district on Saturday.
Though some buses left for Dhaka from various districts, passengers were made to get down before reaching the capital.
Bus counters were closed at Mohakhali Terminal at 9:45am. Despite some counters opened, they were not selling any ticket.
Only
some local buses left Mohakhali terminal in the morning, but no
long-route buses were seen moving out, said Md Selim Mia, a hair-dresser
at the terminal.
One Imran Ali, waiting for a bus, said, "I have to go to Mymensingh on an urgent job. But I can't find a bus to get there."
Buses
have been taken off the roads because of security concerns, said
Tarikul Islam, office secretary at Mohakhali Bus Owners Association.
"Buses are set on fire, passengers burned to death and transport owners have to face huge losses," he said, talking to bdnews24.com.
"Streets are no safe. So how can we run our buses ?" he said.
No
long haul buses have left since morning, said Milon Mia, an officer of
Diganta Paribahan at Gabtali Bus Terminal, speaking to bdnews24.com.
"Buses cannot be run on roads if they are not made surely safe," he said.
"Despite waiting for a bus since morning to go to Manikganj, I have not got any," he said, talking to bdnews24.com.
The
situation of Gabtali and Mohakhali Terminals is no different from that
in Sayedabad. No buses were going out from there as well.
Mamun, transport worker of Ekushey Paribahan that runs on Dhaka-Noakhali route, confirmed no buses are running.
A Dhaka-Bandua route bus official said, "Senior police officials have asked us to stop running of buses on Dec 28 and 29."
But police are not admitting it.
Dhaka
City Police's Deputy Commissioner Md Masudur Rahman said, "Police have
been put on alert in various parts of the city for the sake of public
security."
Reports have it that buses are not leaving the districts for Dhaka
Owners have asked us not to run the buses, said Abdul Baten, driver of Padma Express plying on the Chandpur-Dhaka route.
Police have verbally asked not to run buses, said a bus owner at Kishoreganj.
Passengers, returning from Kolkata, are also in a quandary as buses to Dhaka are not available at Benapole land port.
Police
are obstructing movement of buses by setting up a check post at
Muktapur Bridge, said Abdul Azim, general secretary of BNP's
Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal's Munshiganj unit.
They are keeping roads and water ways off capital Dhaka in various ways, he added.
Police
are conducting searches on vehicles by setting up check posts west of
Bangabandhu Bridge, the gateway to the northern region in Bangladesh.
"We
are checking whether anyone is carrying arms and ammunition or material
for sabotage ," said Abdul Motaleb, sub-inspector at the Goal Chattar
check post, situated at the west side of the Bridge.
Instigated by the ruling party, transport workers have called sudden strike in Bagerhat and Cox's Bazar.
Local
BNP have alleged that these strikes were called to stop the movement of
buses ahead of the opposition's march to Dhaka on Sunday.
Like buses, launches have not come to Dhaka's Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
Over 50 launches usually come to Dhaka's main launch terminal a day but only ten arrived on Saturday.
Launches
are not coming like on other days, said BIWTA's Sadarghat Traffic
Inspector Syed Mahfuzur Rahman, talking to bdnews24.com.
Asked why, he said, "We do not know but seems launches have been grounded for fear of sabotage."
MV
Tipu Launch's manager Md Faruk Hossain alleged that due to frequent
police search, not many people were venturing out and hence launches
were not operating as there was a very few passengers.
Kamlapur
Railway Police Station's OC Md Abdul Majid said trains were normally
running though water vessels and road traffics were grounded.
But Dhaka-bound Agarsindu Train, which was to leave for Kishoreganj on Saturday morning, was cancelled.
Kishoreganj Railway Master Joyonto Majumder said they have cancelled the trains following the order from the head office.
No trains even left Ishwardy Railway Station in Pabna on Saturday morning.
"Schedule cannot be maintained due to fog," said AFM Masudur Rahman, divisional engineer at Ishwardy's Pakshi Railway Station.
Besides, there are reports that trains are being searched at various places in Bangladesh.
Police
arrested nearly 200 Jamaat and BNP activists after launching search
operations at various areas across the country from Friday evening to
Saturday morning.
Pabna District BNP general secretary Habibur Rahman Tota expressed anger at the halt of traffic movement.
He
said, "Traffic movement has been halted just to prevent the leaders and
activists of the 18-Party alliance from joining its programme in
Dhaka," he said.
