Moulvibazar correspondent: A railway blockade program
has been held at various stations on the Sylhet-Akhaura railway line, including the Kulaura Junction station in Moulvibazar, demanding eight points, including the introduction of two new trains on the Sylhet-Dhaka and Sylhet-Cox's Bazar railway lines. The program began at around 10 am on Saturday, November 1. Due to the blockade of the railway line, several intercity trains were stranded at various railway stations on the Sylhet railway line. Train passengers suffered due to this. The protestors' assurance that six of their eight demands would be met, the program ended around 2 pm after about 4 hours. The protest leaders announced the withdrawal. Earlier, at around 12:30 pm, a three-member delegation from the Railway Secretary met with the protesters and local political leaders at the Kulaura Railway Rest House. A meeting was held. The meeting was attended by Railway Dhaka Divisional Commercial Officer Mohabbat Jan Chowdhury, Dhaka Divisional Engineer-2 Ahsan Habib, Kulaura Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Mohiuddin, Kulaura Police Station OC Omar Faruk, Kulaura Railway Traffic Inspector Shahajan Patwari At that time, public representatives political leaders along with the protesters were present in the meeting. In the meeting, senior railway officials decided to add two additional coaches to all
intercity trains on the Sylhet route and install improved engines in the trains. He has promised to do so. The closed railway station of Sylhet-Akhaura railway line will be opened and two local trains will be started on the Sylhet-Akhaura section within December-January. Kulaura to Sylhet railway station within 72 hours.
A 60-seat coach will be permanently provided in the intercity Parabat train till 2021. Among them, there will be 40 seats at Kulaura Junction station and 20 seats at Srimangal station. Railway officials said that the Sylhet- Akhaura railway line A project worth Tk 1,739 crore has been taken for the renovation. Tenders for the work will be invited in November this year. He also assured that two new trains will be launched on the Sylhet-Dhaka and Sylhet-Cox's Bazar railway lines by January 2026. It is learnt that people from different areas of the upazila have been gathering at Kulaura Junction Station with red flags in their hands since Saturday morning to make the railway blockade program in Sylhet a success. At that time, the protesters demanded They kept raising various slogans in protest. People from various political, social, journalist, professional, business and labor organizations joined the program with separate processions carrying banners. At this time, the main movement Former MP and Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) Presidium Member Nawab Ali Abbas Khan spoke under the chairmanship of Coordinator Azizul Islam and moderated by Chief Coordinator M Atiqur Rahman Akhoi.
Nationalist Lawyers Forum Central Committee Vice- President Advocate Abed Raja, Jamaat-e-Islami Moulvibazar District Amir Engineer Shahed Ali, former Upazila Parishad Chairman Fazlul Haque Khan Shahed, Upazila BNP President Joynal Abedin Bachchu, General Secretary Badruzzaman Sajal, BNP leader Redwan Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Amir Md. Zakir Hossain, Jalalabad Association of Dhaka Former General Secretary Ed. Jasim Uddin Ahmed, Communist Party Upazila Branch President Comrade Abdul Latif, Islamic Movement District Committee Secretary Maulana Abdul Quddus, JSD leader Abdul Hannan, senior journalist Khaled Parvez Bakhsh, Md. Imad Ud-Din, Moktadir Hossain, Najmul Bari Suhel, Mahfuz Shakil, transport workers leader Islam Uddin Giani, Almas Parvez Talukder, etc. The speakers said that there is a lack of fast trains on the Sylhet-Dhaka railway route, adequate Passengers are suffering immensely due to unavailability of tickets, frequent train delays and use of old coaches. The railway lines are in a dilapidated condition in many places. As a result, accidents often occur and trains are derailed. Railways If reforms are not made, the entire region will eventually fall apart. At one stage, BNP Chairperson's advisor and former Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury virtually joined the program to show solidarity. He said, "Sylhet division is facing discrimination in various fields including railways and road communication. Along with Kulaura, the people of Sylhet have also risen up
against this discrimination. The eight-point demands of the railways are reasonable. They will not leave the field until their demands are met." The eight-point demands are: speedy launch of the approved Tanguar Express on the Dhaka-Sylhet railway line, two special trains on the Sylhet-Dhaka and Sylhet- Cox's Bazar railway lines; renovation of the Akhaura- Sylhet railway line and upgrading it to a dual-gauge double line; a Local trains resumed; all closed stations on Akhaura-Sylhet section reopened; number of seats allocated at Kulaura Junction and Srimangal stations increased; Sylhet-Dhaka intercity trains headed towards Dhaka after Azampur via Kalni and Parabat Cancellation of all station stops; to prevent schedule disruptions in trains operating with Sylhet, defect-free engines will be added and additional coaches will be added to each train in proportion to passenger demand. Kulaura Station Station Master Roman Ahmed said that due to the blockade, the intercity Parabat Express train leaving Dhaka for Sylhet was first stopped at Dhaka Moghbazar Railgate, Shayestaganj and Srimangal stations. The Dhaka-bound Kalni Express train from Sylhet left Kulaura station at 7:30 am before the blockade began. He also said that due to the blockade, the Chittagong-bound Paharika Express train left at 10:30 am. Although it was supposed to leave, it reached Kulaura station at around 2:30 pm due to being stuck at various stations. On the other hand, the Sylhet-bound Parabat Express train was supposed to leave Kulaura at 1:30 am, but it arrived at noon. It left for Sylhet at around 2:30 pm.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Mohiuddin said that the meeting with senior railway officials in Kulaura regarding the various demands of the protesters was fruitful. Discussions were held. After assurances that most of the reasonable demands would be accepted, the protesters lifted the blockade around 2 pm. Later, train traffic returned to normal. The remaining demands will be accepted in phases, the railway's senior authorities said. Meanwhile, local residents staged a protest in Srimangal, blocking the Parabat Express train for their eight-point demands. On Saturday, around 12 noon, they stood in front of the Sylhet-bound Parabat Express train that left Dhaka. Started the blockade the coordinator of the Srimangal train blockade program, Kawsar Iqbal, Saiful Islam, and others spoke at the program. According to the protestors, for a long time, they have been trying to improve the poor condition of the railways in the Sylhet region and Various programs have been held to demand improvement in the quality of passenger services. On September 27, during the sit-in strike in Kulaura, the protesters blocked the train, and DRM of the Dhaka region of the railway, Md. Mohiuddin Arif 15 He assured to accept the demands within a day. Then on October 10, Dhaka Regional Manager (DRM) of Railways Md. Mohiuddin held a meeting with the protesters at the VIP waiting room of Kulaura Junction Station.
Arif. Rejecting Mohiuddin Arif's assurance at the meeting, the protesters announced a blockade on November 1 if their demands were not implemented by October 31.
