Chhatra League not only collects tolls but acts like law enforcers as well
IT is no new news that different wing organisations of ruling Awami League such as Chhatra League, Jubo League, take tolls from roadside vendors or hawkers on the footpaths, transports, various businesses as well as people who start construction work of new residence buildings. Recently, some ‘leaders’ of Chhatra League of Jahangirnagar University withheld 24 human haulers, locally known as ‘leguna’, for non-payment of daily toll. As if these legunas violated rules and the Chhatra League acted like law enforcing agencies!
This report surfaced in most mainstream media in Bangladesh on Friday. However, Chhatra League leaders denied this and said that students blocked these vehicles from operation after one leguna had hit a motorcycle with two students of the university.
The student leaders started stopping these vehicles by standing in front of the Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall gate of the university on Tuesday afternoon and later, the joint general secretary of the university’s Chhatra League branch, Delwar Hossain, went inside the university with the keys of these vehicles. Then again on Wednesday afternoon, 13 more legunas were seized and brought inside the university totaling 24.
Around 200 legunas ply regularly on the route from Savar to Ashulia. They had to pay a toll of Tk 25 per day to the leaders of the university branch of Chhatra League. Regularly, these legunas used to pay, in a month, one and a half lakh taka to the BCL leaders. The leguna drivers stopped paying the toll for the past two months, as the BCL leaders demanded from each leguna Tk 200 per day. Following their refusal, the BCL took this step like law enforcing agencies.
However, traffic police can seize vehicles and punish owners if they break rules and do not have proper documents including driving licenses. But unfortunately, it is widely alleged that they also collect tolls from transports, all kinds of transports illegally using their power. It is also widely known that the law enforcing agencies and the ruling party ‘cadres’ such as BCL or Jubo League, in collusion with each other maintain the toll collecting practice.
The government does not take any action against either their student or youth wings of Awami League or the police apparently to keep them in their hands so that they can be used as and when they please, especially in countering the opposition politics. This is one example of how lawlessness has spread very deep into the grassroots level of Bangladesh society.
