The 'Red army' of Sadarghat !

If you happen to be an inter-district launch passenger on the eve of the happy Eid festival, you are sure to become a victim of the red-shirted Kulis (porters, that carry your luggage by head-loads), who invariably charge you a sizeable portion of the cash on you.

They not only carry the luggage, but also ensure a seat for you and members of your family on board the over-crowded motor launches with the efficiency of the much too well known red shirted 'Red Army'!

Members of this 'Red Army' at the Sadarghat launch terminal net out a fortune for themselves during the eid rush. They are said to have the full fledged patronisation of the launch terminal authorities and the cooperation of the members of the crew of the motor launches.

An army of about 20 such men, on an average, stand on the small round-about under the pedestrians' over-bridge in front of the Jagannath University near Sadarghat. As thousands of outgoing passengers arrive by rickshaws, baby-taxis, rickshaw vans and cars with their luggage, two or three kulis from their vantage point immediately cordon you and start escorting your vehicle right up to up to the terminal.

At the terminal, the kulis ask the passengers to get out of the vehicle and insist on carrying their luggage in to the awaiting motor launches as a matter of right, so to say. The helpless passengers are left with no alternative but to agree to the proposal of the men of the red army, and follow them.

They 'manage' seats for you out of the thin air, as it were, inside vessels that apparently have no vacant seat. The floors or the decks of all the vessels have been already been occupied by rows of bed sheets spread on the passengers' seats. The desperate home-bound passengers are now forced to 'buy the seat', notwithstanding their tickets, which happen to be under the jurisdiction of the 'Red Army'.

The kulis again compel the passengers to buy a single space (seat) for anything between Tk 30 and Tk.300. The only alternative is to spend the entire travelling time on roof-tops of the launches.

Once the payable amount is settled, the kulis realise their dues for carrying the luggage and managing the coveted seat for you. The amount varies from Tk 50 to Tk 300 or more depending on the size of the crowd already on board, the size ofyour family and your bargaining capacity.

Men of the 'Red Army' do all these in connivance with the police, the men of the Bangladesh Water Transport Authority, Bangladesh Water Transport Corporation and the Officials and staff of the motor vessels, said one of the 'red-shirts'. The men in the red are partners in progress to all of them!