Sylhet railway to face 'indefinite blockade' from 1 Nov over 8-point demands
The railway authorities promised to implement the demands, but the protesters rejected the assurances. They said if the demands were not met by 31 October, all railways in Sylhet division would be blocked from 1 November
Protesters in Sylhet division have called an indefinite railway blockade from 1 November to press eight demands, including railway development and infrastructure renovation.
The protesters announced the programme after a meeting with Md Mohiuddin Arif, General Manager of the Dhaka Railway region, at Kulaura Junction station last night (10 October).
The railway authorities promised to implement the demands, but the protesters rejected the assurances. They said if the demands were not met by 31 October, all railways in Sylhet division would be blocked from 1 November.
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After the meeting, they held a protest march at Kulaura station.
Protesters present included former MP Advocate Nawab Ali Abbas Khan, Upazila BNP President Zainal Abedin Bacchu, General Secretary Bodruzzaman Sojal, Upazila Jammat Naib Amir Md Zakir Hossain, former Upazila Chairman Maulana Fazlul Haq Khan Sahed, and coordinators of the protest - Azizul Islam and Atikur Rahman Akhi.
Railway participants included DC Dhaka Md Mohabbatjan Chowdhury, Sylhet Railway Station Manager Nurul Islam, Kulaura TI Shahajan Pathwari Saju, and other officials.
Azizul Islam and Atikur Rahman Akhi said the officials only gave assurances but took no real action. They urged the public to avoid train travel on 1 November.
Earlier, during a sit-in strike on 27 September in Kulaura, protesters stopped trains. DRM Md Mohiuddin Arif had promised to discuss the matter within 15 days, which led to the recent meeting.
The eight demands of the protesters are:
- Launch two special trains on Sylhet-Dhaka and Sylhet-Cox's Bazar routes.
- Renovate and upgrade the Akhaura-Sylhet railway section to double line.
- Run at least one local train on the Akhaura-Sylhet section.
- Reopen all closed stations on the Akhaura-Sylhet section.
- Increase the number of allocated seats at Kulaura Junction.
- Remove all stoppages towards Dhaka after Azimpur for the Intercity Kalni and Parabat trains from Sylhet.
- Provide fault-free engines to prevent schedule disruption.
- Add extra carriages to each train according to passenger demand.
