Demand to withdraw cases against ‘safe road’ activists
Although many students participating in the movement had been expelled from their schools, no action had been taken to revoke their expulsions
The Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (passenger welfare association) has demanded withdrawal of false and baseless cases filed against the participants and supporters of the largest, successful and non-violent "Safe Road Movement" in the history of the country.
The association's Secretary General Mohammad Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury made the demand in a media statement on Monday on the occasion of the two-year anniversary of the Safe Road Movement.
The statement said that, on July 29, 2018, two students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College – Rajib and Dia – were killed and 10 other students were injured in a collision caused by reckless driving of two buses on the Airport Road on the outskirts of the capital. Young students, in protest, took to the streets demanding safe roads.
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People from all walks of life took part in and supported the movement led by students, demanding anarchy-free roads and a stop to killings in the name of road accidents.
Although top policymakers and the administration expressed support for the movement, the false and baseless lawsuits filed against countless innocent people, including young students, have not been withdrawn till now.
The perpetrators of the attacks on students and journalists during the movement by the so-called "Helmet Bahini" have not been identified yet and have not been brought to justice.
The statement added that although many students who had participating in the movement had been expelled from their schools, no action had been taken to revoke their expulsions.
It was said that the student movement in establishing discipline on roads had opened everyone's eyes, but the chaos and anarchy on the roads has not improved much due to lack of continuity, alleged the statement.
Although the Road Transport Act-2018 was hastily passed in response to the student demands, its implementation did not gain momentum as the county was held hostage by organisations of transport owners and workers calling a pretend "work abstention".
The Jatri Kalyan Samity's statement demanded immediate implementation of the student demands as well as withdrawal of false cases against young students participating in the movement, and eminent photographer Shahidul Alam and Jatri Kalyan Samity's Secretary General Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury – who supported the movement.
