Rail passengers suffer as students continue blockade

Students of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh rail route for nearly six hours yesterday following a dispute with the university authorities, causing immense suffering to passengers.

The students have been demonstrating since Sunday after an attack by outsiders left seven of them injured.

Although the university ordered students to vacate dormitories following its indefinite closure on Sunday night, most male students refused to leave.

On Monday afternoon, the protesters blocked the railway line on the campus for two hours. Yesterday, they resumed the blockade around 11:30am, said Md Akhtar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Government Railway Police (GRP) in Mymensingh.

The OC said seven trains, including Dhaka-bound Balaka Commuter, Jamalpur Commuter Train and Teesta Intercity, were waiting at Mymensingh Railway Station around 5:30pm. Meanwhile, Mymensingh-bound Mahua Commuter, Aghnibina Express, Jamalpur Express and Mohanganj Express were stranded at different stations in Gafargaon.

Altogether, 24 pairs of trains travel this route every day, carrying about 30,000 passengers. The blockade therefore caused severe suffering to rail commuters, the OC added.

Ali Hossain, a Dhaka-bound passenger on the Balaka Commuter from Jaria in Netrakona, said his train reached Mymensingh station around 1:30pm but had been stuck there since.

"While we are already facing serious suffering under the scorching heat, the blockade has added salt to our wounds," said Ahmed Shafiq, a trader from Jaria.

Samia Akter, who was traveling to Dhaka on the Balaka Commuter, said the heat and the long wait at Mymensingh had been extremely difficult for her five-year-old child.

Aysha Khatun, a house help, said she had been waiting at the station for five hours to catch the Jamalpur Commuter.

Passengers urged the authorities to resolve the crisis to ease the suffering of thousands who travel daily between Dhaka, Mymensingh, Netrakona and Jamalpur.

Mahamud Dipu, one of the student leaders, said they suspended the blockade around 5:20pm.

BAU Proctor Prof Abdul Alim said a meeting between the students and university authorities were held last night to settle the matter.

At the meeting, presided over by Prof Md Shahidul Haque, BAU student affairs adviser, a three-member probe body was formed to investigate the attack on the students.

Besides, a decision was taken that the order to vacate the halls will be withdrawn through a syndicate meeting today.

Following the decision, the students postponed their protest programmes for today, said Mahmud Hasan Dipu.