Staff Reporter :
Three separate roads blockades in the capital city on Sunday triggered severe gridlocks causing untold sufferings to commuters.
As a result, the vehicular movement in the surrounding areas of Shahbagh, Banani Kakoli and Kakrail had been closed from noon as groups of protesters gathered at the respective intersections.
In Shahbagh, hundreds of trainee physicians blocked Shahbagh intersection in the capital, demanding a rise in the monthly stipends of postgraduate private trainee doctors affiliated with BSMMU and BCPS.
The trainee physicians blocked Shahbagh intersection around 1:00 pm. With the same demand, postgraduate trainee physicians are carrying out programmes at different locations across the country as well.
The physicians who joined the blockade stated that they have been promised a pay rise for several years but it’s not happening. They had already protested several times.
One of the trainee physicians Borhanuddin told the media “We will not leave the streets until our stipend is increased to Tk 50,000 from Tk 25,000.”
Another trainee physician Mamun said “We had been gathering at BSMMU Bottola area since 10:00 am in the morning.
We had given a deadline till 12:00 pm to accept our demand. But then we gathered at Shahbagh as the authorities didn’t accept our demand.”
Meanwhile, Prime Asia University students on Sunday staged a road blockade at the capital’s Banani Kakoli intersection for the second consecutive day on Sunday, pressing for several demands, including the construction of a permanent campus and the resignation of the chairman of the board of trustees.
Md Ashikur Rahman, sub-inspector (SI) of Banani Police Station, said the demonstration, which started at 3:10 pm, caused serious traffic disruptions in the area before dispersing them at 3:45 pm.
Students expressed their grievances, alleging that promises to shift at least one department to the university’s permanent campus by December remain unfulfilled.
They said that the board of trustees is attempting to sell the designated permanent campus site at Purbachal’s 300 Feet area instead of relocating academic activities there.
Besides, Inquilab Mancha, a non-political cultural organisation comprising former and current students of Dhaka University (DU), blocked Kakrail Mosque intersection in the capital on Sunday to press home their three-point demand, including the cancellation of the Awami League’s registration as a political party.
Earlier, their procession, which began at 12:30 pm from the National Museum in Shahbagh, was stopped by law enforcement as it approached “Jamuna,” the residence of the Chief Adviser.
The Inquilab Mancha was halted near the Kakrail Mosque intersection around 1 pm by police and APBN members who had set up barricades on both sides of the road leading to the residence.
In response, the protesters, led by Inquilab Manch spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi, took position at the intersection, with some lying down on the road and effectively blocking traffic.
