Shops open, traffic returns but Mirpur still unsettled

While the capital city is awakening from the five-day shutdown, a pall of fear continues to hang over Mirpur, one of the areas hardest hit by deadly clashes during the recent violence centring on the quota reform protests.

Public and private offices, as well as businesses in the capital, have started reopening, and traffic has been increasing over the past two days as the government has begun to relax the curfew, imposed last Friday night, with limited daytime hours.

Visits to the area  on Thursday (25 July)  revealed that residents of Mirpur-10, Mirpur-11, and Kazipara areas have not yet returned to their normal lives.

Mirpur-10 was less crowded than usual. While most shops and shopping centres were open, business owners were idly waiting due to a lack of customers. A few footpath shops were open but the majority of stores remained closed.

From July 17 to 20, the Mirpur-10 area turned into a battlefield as agitators engaged in sporadic clashes with law enforcers and ruling party activists. 

Hundreds of protesters and local residents were injured in the mayhem, leaving a lingering sense of fear and panic among local residents and shopkeepers.

Sohrab Ali, a resident of the lane next to Aalok Healthcare and Hospital in Mirpur-10, told TBS, "I doubt that the intense panic experienced by residents here last week will subside within a month. I only went out because I had shopping to do; otherwise, I would have remained indoors. Even with the curfew being eased, the fear continues."

Pointing to the roadside tea stalls, he said, "These shops were once bustling at all hours — morning, noon, and night. Now, you can see there are no customers. Even once things return to normal, it will take time to dispel the fear lingering in people's minds here."

Rajib, a shirt seller on the sidewalk in Mirpur-10, told TBS, "I narrowly escaped the police firing on 18 July. I opened the shop today [Thursday], but there are no sales. We are still anxious about what might happen next."

Taslima Begum, a tea shopkeeper in the Senpara Parbat area behind Shah Ali Plaza, said, "I opened my shop yesterday [Wednesday], but there are no customers like before. Some markets have reopened, so a few customers have started coming in.

"I cannot keep the shop open till night as I used to. With the curfew in place, I have to close the shop by 5pm. The situation here is still unsettled; it feels like the shooting could start again at any moment."

Hossain, an employee at a bag shop in Shah Ali Plaza, said, "The shop is open, but there are no customers. I have only sold 2-3 bags from morning until 3pm."

The manager of a furniture shop in the Kazipara area told TBS, "I have opened the shop, but there are no sales. There is still uncertainty among buyers about whether Mirpur-Kazipara has truly returned to normal."

Shipon, an employee at a local hotel, said, "Although things are somewhat calmer now, the hotel is not seeing the usual number of visitors. We are also shaken by an incident where one of our employees was shot by police."