Students hold bicycle procession

The students of various educational institutions on Thursday held a bicycle procession in Rajshahi, protesting against the deaths of two Santal farmers, who committed suicide protesting at the deprivation of irrigation water.
Around 30 students started their bicycle procession under the banner of ‘0.6 Gravity Riderz’ at about 3:00pm from Zia Park in Nowdapara area and ended at Alupotti intersection, where they held a short rally.
Addressing the rally, Jubayer Hossain, a student of Rajshahi City College, said that they took to the streets in protest of the ongoing inequality in supplying water as social violence was taking place in the Barind region due to the inequality.
‘Due to nepotism and inequality over water, two ethnic minority farmers had to give their lives. If the existing problems regarding water distribution are not solved, such incidents may happen in the future,’ he said.
Samir Hossain, a student of Bangabandhu College, urged the authorities concerned to take effective steps to eliminate inequality in water distribution in the region and protect the northern region from drought.
The students also demanded the immediate arrest of the accused Barind Multipurpose Development Authority deep tube well operator, Shakhawat Hossain, and a fair investigation into the death of the two farmers, alleging that a powerful group was trying to divert the case to a different way.
Among others, Shahidul Islam, Masum Billah and Rafi Hossain spoke at the rally.
On March 23, Santal farmer Abhinath Mardi and his cousin Rabi Mardi drank pesticides at the BMDA deep tube well site at Isoripur village of Godagari upazila in Rajshahi, after they had been denied water for their paddy fields by Shakhawat for the past 12 consecutive days.
Abhinath died at his home at about 9:00pm on the day, while Rabi died during treatment on Friday.
Later, Abhinath Mardi’s wife Rozina Hembrom filed a case on Friday against BMDA operator Shakhawat.
Following the incident, different socio-political organisations and professionals staged protests over the deaths of the Santal farmers.