Commuters suffer amid Rangpur bus strike ahead of BNP rally

Commuters are in deep water due to lack of long-haul buses on the roads of Rangpur amid a two-day strike called by the Motor Owners' Association ahead of the BNP's divisional rally there.

The transport owners' association's strike – called in demand of keeping local passenger vehicles and other three-wheelers off the highways – will be observed from 6am on Friday to 6pm on Saturday.

About 600 to 700 buses ply from Rangpur on different roads. Due to the sudden bus strike, ordinary passengers are suffering.

Other small vehicles are taking advantage of this situation and are charging passengers three/four times the regular fare.

Passengers are having to pay a huge amount to reach from Rangpur city, Bus Stand Terminal, Kamarpara, Modern Junction to Dhaka, Khulna, Bogura, Rajshahi.

Dhaka-bound passenger Rezaul Islam Manik Dulal said that they had come from Kurigram to Rangpur in a small car to go to Dhaka. However, they are suffering due to lack of any car in Rangpur.

A man named Rafiqul Islam came to the bus terminal with his 10-year-old daughter. They from Sundarganj in Gaibandha to visit a relative admitted in Rangpur Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday.

But now there is no easy way for them to return home. He said, he is now forced to return to Sundarganj by autorickshaw, van or any other means.

Many passengers are also becoming victims of fraud as bus helpers are promising to take them to Rangpur and then letting them off before the destination. Despite charging them more than usual, they are forcing passengers to get down at Gaibandha.

A passenger named Abdullah Al Farooq got on a Rangpur-bound bus from Rajshahi in the morning. But after reaching Charmatha area in Bogura, he was forced to get down.

On the one hand, traders are facing difficulties in transportation of perishable goods including vegetables.

Meanwhile, Rangpur BNP's divisional rally is scheduled to be held on Saturday (29 October) at Collectorate Eidgah grounds.

Leaders and workers have been seen making various preparations around the day. Due to the strike, many of them started coming to Rangpur from Thursday night to make the rally successful.

President of Rangpur district unit of BNP Saiful Islam said, "The meeting will be held on Saturday, but the party's leaders and workers have started coming to Rangpur from Wednesday. The grassroots workers are ready to protest the way the government is torturing, oppressing and obstructing the BNP leaders and workers.

Asadul Habib Dulu, BNP's organizing secretary of Rangpur division, told The Business Standard, "The same situation was created in the name of transport strike in the previous mass meeting. The government is playing the same strategy in Rangpur, Mymensingh and Khulna. It's no use.

"We are talking about public demand. We came to the field demanding people's liberation. The government repeatedly says that BNP is conspiring. But now the government is conspiring to stop us. However, mass uprising cannot be prevented by this barrier."

According to AKM Mozammel Haque, president of Rangpur District Motor Owners' Association, the government has formed a law in view of the demands of transport owners for safety on the highway.

However, in the highways of Rangpur, various illegal vehicles including Nachiman, Karimon, are still plying on the highway. Accidents often happen because of this, he added.

In such a situation, a transport strike has been called on all routes of Rangpur from Friday morning to Saturday evening, said the transport owners' leader.

Plight of daily wage earners

Transport leaders say that there are at least 9,000 transport workers in Rangpur. All of them are now without work for two days, awaiting order from higher ups.
A bus driver of Al Aqsa said that he has to buy at least Tk200 worth of medicines for his family every day. Traffic is stopped in the northern region of the country. So, he has no source of income.

Rickshaw puller Abdur Rahman said, "Rich people will not face any problem even if they sit home every day. But we cannot sit idle for even a day. By driving a rickshaw, we earns a daily income. But now we face a dire situation due to the BNP rally."

Rahman has a family of five including his wife and children. Now he is the only earner in the family. He has been travelling around the city with an empty rickshaw since Thursday night.
Eight districts of North Bengal bus-trucks stopped for BNP rallies. Because of this, there are no people commuting in Rangpur now except for urgent needs. 

"Usually we used to get Tk800-900 per day. I couldn't even earn Tk200 in one afternoon," he lamented.