BNP divisional rally: Strikes on yet Sylhet all set
Though the transport strike almost cut off Sylhet from the rest of the country, BNP activists continued to arrive in the city yesterday to attend today's rally.
The activists, mostly from the four districts in Sylhet division, travelled to the city on rented buses, trucks, private vehicles, motorcycles and boats after the transport strike began yesterday morning.
The suspension of public bus services caused immense sufferings to the people in the region.
Although the scheduled transport strike in Sylhet district was supposed to begin from today, no long-haul bus left the city since yesterday.
With BNP supporters pouring in, the rally venue on the premises of Sylhet Alia Madrasa was almost full by yesterday afternoon.
Many of them arrived much earlier and spent several nights in 20 tents set up at the venue. "The ruling party tried to prevent our men from joining the rally. But they defied all odds and the venue is already full," Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, joint secretary general of the BNP, told The Daily Star yesterday afternoon.
The crowds were in a festive mood as they spent the day at the venue. Many held placards and chanted slogans.
Local vendors set up hundreds of makeshift shops around the venue to sell essentials to the crowds.
Lutfur Rahman, a BNP leader from Baniachong, Habiganj, who arrived at the venue on Thursday night, said, "Cases were being filed against BNP men in Habiganj. We came here in advance to avoid harassment and detention."
Mahmudul Hasan of Sylhet's Gowainghat upazila said around 250 men from his area travelled to the venue early so that police and ruling Awami League activists cannot stop them.
Idris Ali, a chef, said his team cooked lunch for 6,000 people yesterday. Two other chefs were seen cooking separately on the field.
Rayhan Muhib, a Swechchhasebak Dal leader from Barlekha in Moulvibazar, said the vehicles carrying him and local activists from his area were stopped by AL men at Golapganj and Beanibazar.
At Kadamtali Bus Terminal, a migrant worker named Ashok Ranjan Deb told this correspondent that he was shocked to find bus services suspended a day before the scheduled strike.
He added that he needed to travel to Dhaka to fly to Malaysia. Many others were seen returning home from the terminal.
Contacted, Ziaul Kabir, general secretary of Sylhet Zilla Bus Owners' Association, said long-haul buses could not leave the district because of the transport strike in Habiganj and Moulvibazar. "The buses would have to go through the two districts to exit the region."
In Moulvibazar, hundreds of people were forced to travel long distances on motorcycles, rickshaw vans and rented cars because of the strike.
Nisharul Arif, commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police, said there would be 19 check posts at the entries to the city and different other places today.
"Over 900 police personnel in uniform and plainclothes will be deployed and four mobile teams led by magistrates will be on the streets," he added.
The BNP is holding rallies in the divisional cities to protest the price hike of essentials and fuel.
Rallies have already been held in Chattogram, Mymensingh, Khulna, Rangpur, Barishal and Faridpur.
Transport strikes were enforced ahead of those rallies, except the one held in Chattogram.
[Our Moulvibazar correspondent contributed to the report]