324 die in 2yrs due to party wrath on vehicles
At least 324 passengers and transport workers were killed in political violence in the last two years across the country, the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh revealed in a report yesterday, holding "unhealthy politics" responsible for the deaths.
The period also saw over 4.41 lakh passengers and transport workers suffer injuries, with 13,200 of them becoming permanently maimed.
Addressing a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club where the figures were shared, the association's secretary general, Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, said that though a driver of the economy, the transport sector had been the main prey of political unrest.
People are getting killed because the country has an unhealthy political culture, he said. Now when people leave their homes, they do not know whether they would be able to come back alive, he added.
"We want an end to such cruelty and barbarism. We urge political parties to change the way of their protest."
In the last 25 months, the period over which the association surveyed 10 newspapers and five television channels' reports and collated the data, over 30,000 vehicles were vandalised, while 1,600 partially and 800 fully gutted.
Haque said transport owners were suffering huge losses on one hand, and workers were leading inhumane lives on the other due to the loss of their daily earnings.
In the last 20 days, political violence killed 29 people and injured over 55,000, while 3,200 vehicles were vandalised and 637 burnt, 65 of them completely.
Haque said, "On behalf of the association, we demand compensation and rehabilitation of the passengers, workers and owners affected by political violence."
He also called upon the government to ensure security of the passengers and vehicles.
On January 15, transport owners and workers rallying in the capital threatened to launch "tough" protests if the attacks on vehicles and people continue.
Transport owners told the gathering that their daily losses amounted to Tk 300 crore because of the ongoing blockade and hartal.
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