Protest to continue till all demands are met: Students
PBC News: The agitating students have vowed to continue the protest until their nine-point demand, which were placed during the Road Safety Movement, are met.
They said that taking half fare from students is one of their nine-point demands but no decision has yet been made on the remaining claims. “We will continue the movement till the notification is issued in compliance with the remaining demands,” they said.
The students took position on the roads in different areas in the city at about 11.00 am on Tuesday.
On other days, after seeing the documents, the students allowed vehicles to move but today they were not allowing any vehicle to move which caused severe traffic jam on roads.
Police then requested that students that they should allow to drive of vehicles in at least one lane.
The agitating students allowed vehicles drivers to drive in a lane after checking the documents following request from police. However, due to the seizure of vehicles on the roads, verification of documents and allowing a small number of vehicles to move, the traffic on the roads were halted at that time.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Tejgaon zone) Rubaiyat Zaman said they had informed the students about the bus owners’ decision to take half fare from students which will come into effect from December 1. The students have been urged by the police to leave one lane of the road at least considering the suffering of the people, he added.
Meanwhile, in the face of the movement, Public transport owners decided to take half fare from students in Dhaka from Wednesday.
General Secretary of Road Transport Owners’ Association Khandaker Enayet Ullah at a press conference held in Dhaka said, “The half bus fare for students will come into effect from December 1. Students must show ID cards of their respective schools or colleges while paying half fare.”
An agitating student Nadeem Khan said they would not back down from the protest.
“Notification must be issued. We are scheduled to give a memorandum in Parliament on December 7 and that programme will remain unchanged.
Sazzadur Rahman, a student of Abudharr Ghifari College, said, “All students across the country should be given this facility of half fare in bus and a notification must be issued. Otherwise, the torture of drivers on the highway will not stop. You saw last night how a student was crushed for demanding a half bus fare.”
