Protesting against the killing of the general secretary of the Sayedabad Bus Owners’ Association, bus owners suspended services in the capital on Friday. However, the strike, initially planned for an indefinite period, was called off after six hours, considering the inconvenience caused to commuters and Junior School Certificate (JSC) examinees in particular.The Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Samiti (DSPS) general secretary Enayet Ullah said: “We decided to end the strike at 12 noon, considering the plight of the people and students appearing in different examinations on Friday.” The DSPS announced the strike on Thursday night following the killing of the Sayedabad Transport Owners’ Association (STOA) general secretary, Khairul Molla (45).
Despite the strike being called off, most buses, including the long-distance ones that originate from the city’s Sayedabad, Mohakhali and Jatrabari terminals, kept off the road throughout the day, subjecting people to inconvenience.
Wielding batons, aggressive strike supporters held up movement of buses at different points in the city. The agitators beat up a bus driver in Mohakhali around 9 a.m. when he chose to defy the strike and ply his vehicle on route No. 6.
Agitating transport workers also prevented human haulers like Leguna from operating in the city’s Mohammadpur bus station.
Khairul Mollah, who was also organising secretary of the Demra thana unit of the ruling party, was stabbed to death by unidentified criminals in the city’s Motijheel area on Thursday.
According to the police, a group of criminals stabbed Khairul in front of the Madhumita Cinema Hall around 6:30 pm as he came out of the local branch of the Bangladesh Samabay Bank Ltd., leaving him injured.
Belayet Hossain, director of Moitree Paribahan, said they too kept their buses off the street, protesting the killing of Mollah.
Abdul Mannan, an official of Bikalpa Paribahan on the Mirpur-Matijhel route, said: “We usually run our buses during strikes, but the workers refused to do so on Friday protesting the killing of Mollah.”
The absence of vehicular transport compounded by the 60-hour bandh convened by the BNP-led 18-party alliance took a toll on normal life in the city on Friday.
“I have been waiting for two hours. I do not have any other means to travel. I could not reach Uttara where I have urgent work,” rued Shefali Begum at the Mahakhali bus stand.
-With The Independent input
