A 24-hour nationwide transport strike paralysed road communication across the country, particularly on long distance routes since Thursday morning.
No long distance bus or truck was seen on the highway causing sufferings to people.
Transport workers began the strike responding to Bangladesh Sharak Paribahan Sramik Fedration’s call to press the demand for the immediate release of its leader Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas.
They are also demanded the arrest of those who killed 27 drivers during recent hartals.
In the capital hundreds of office-goers and other commuters could be seen standing in long queues at bus stops waiting expecting to get a bus.
The transport workers vandalised vehicles on district roads demanding immediate release of the BRTWF leader Shimul Biswas, who was arrested on November 9.
The strike is due to this morning but the transport workers threatened that they would go for fresh agitations unless Shimul was immediately set free.
Shimul is also special assistant to BNP chairperson.
No bus on the long routes left the capital’s Gabtoli, Kalyanpur, Mahakhali and Saidabad terminals.
And only a handful of the bus operators’ counters sold advance tickets for the long route journeys.
Counter officials said that on Thursday morning transport workers, carrying sticks, stood on guard at Mirpur to ensure that no bus or minibus reached the Gabtoli Terminal.
Until the afternoon buses were stopped at the Mirpur Technical turn and the passengers were asked to walk down to their destinations on foot.
‘I did not know that there was a strike. Why they asked me to walk down though I am ill,’ asked Maleka like many other commuters.
Hundreds of students seeking admission were unable to reach Dhaka University and Jagannath University, particularly those in the outlying areas, as no vehicles ran on long distance routes.
Mehenaj Rahman waited anxiously at Serajganj not knowing how to reach DU to appear in the admission test.
She said she would try to take a train to reach the capital.
The DU and JnU admission tests for the first year honours courses in the ‘Ka Unit’ are due to begin at 10 AM and 3 PM respectively today.
About 72000 candidates are expected to sit for the admission tests against 1,618
seats in the DU and 4,4500 candidates are expected to sit for the admission test against 790 seats in the JnU, said campus officials.
DU proctor Amzad Ali said that the authorities had no plans to change the examination schedule.
At Gabtoli terminal passengers — Shujan, AKM Nuruzzaman and Hanif Mia were seen awaiting a bus with their families.
Day-worker Magura-bound passenger Shujan and three friends sitting at the terminal said that they would wait until they could board a bus.
Many office-goers and school children after long waits for a bus opted to pay more to auto-rickshaw drivers and rickshaw pullers to reach their destinations.
For the rickshaw pullers and auto-rickshaw drivers it was an opportunity to earn more.
As no bus left the terminals in eight northern districts in the morning for inter-district and other long route destinations, many passengers and traders were seen rushing to railway stations, New Age Rangpur correspondent reported.
But the travellers felt disappointed as several trains ran behind the schedule, he reported.
Mahigonj Prathomik Dugdho Unnayan Samity in Rangpur said that 65 of its registered dairy farmers were unable supply their milk produce of the day.
In Rashahi transport workers brought out a procession in the morning demanding immediate release of their leader.
Our Khulna, Faridpur, Gazipur and Satkhira correspondents reported that no bus, minibus, truck and covered-vans plied on these routes.
Bangladesh Truck Covered-Van Owners’ Association general secretary Mohammad Rustam Ali Khan said that most of their vehicles remained off streets and highways.
The workers’ federation general secretary Osman Ali described the nationwide strike peace full.
‘We did not ask our workers to take to violence,’ he added.
Our Sylhet correspondent reports that some of transport workers vandalised 10 vehicles, including a newspaper laden microbus, at Chandirpul at Dakhhin Surma on Thursday.
They also barricaded the Sylhet-Dhaka Highway at Chandirpul and Sylhet-Sunamganj Highway at Kumargaon early in the morning.
Except few rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and private cars almost no vehicles were seen on Sylhet city streets.
Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas was five BNP leaders arrested on November 8 after a recent hartal called by the opposition.
The other arrested opposition leaders included Moudud Ahmed, MK Anwar, Rafiqul Islam Mia and Abdul Awal Mintoo.
-With New Age input
