Bangladesh: Hasina urges students protesting against reckless-driving to return home
Thousands of angry school students in Bangladesh continued their protest for the eighth consecutive day yesterday, demanding a crackdown on reckless driving, even as Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina urged them to return home, saying that vested quarters have infiltrated the campaign. The protest brought Bangladesh's capital Dhaka to a standstill, blocking major intersections compelling bus operators to suspend their services citing security. Here's more.
We're now worried about your security: Hasina
"We are now worried about your (student protesters') security as the perpetrators of arson attacks (in 2014-15) may stage sabotages... a quarter is out to catch fish in troubled water," Hasina said.
Protest began when two teenagers were killed by speeding bus
The protest began after two teenage students, a boy and a girl, were killed last month, when two buses, racing to collect passengers, hit them and wounded several others. One of the bus drivers fled the scene, although both were later arrested. Stating that non-student saboteurs were using school uniforms and ID cards, Hasina warned that a "third-party" could sabotage the protest.
Actress arrested on sedition charges, spreading rumors
Amid the ongoing protest, the police on Saturday night arrested an actress, Quazi Nawshaba, for spreading rumors to further agitate the protesting school students. In her late 20s, Ahmed has appeared in several Dhaka films. She was seen on Facebook urging people to save the students from attacks and making false claims that two students were killed, reported BdNews24.com.
Vandalism begins, transport workers clash with protesters
As the protest continued, violence erupted in Dhaka. Transport workers, who went on a virtual shutdown citing security reasons for the past eight-days, took to the street and clashed with protesters, prompting police to use batons and tear gas canisters. Meanwhile, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal warned of stern actions against instigators of the students' demonstrations and cautioned protesters not to cross the limit.
Kamal alleges school dresses, fake IDs being sold for protests
Kamal said thousands of sets of school dresses were sold out and fake ID cards were produced in the last few days for the infiltrators who joined the protests to create anarchy. Authorities had also shut down mobile Internet services across swathes of the country.
School students checking licenses of drivers on roads
Ever since the protest erupted, the school students were seen on Dhaka's streets checking whether cars and buses had valid licenses and were in a roadworthy condition. The students had stopped flag cars carrying senior cabinet ministers, SC judges, police vehicles among others and uploaded pictures on the social media when the officials' drivers were found to have lacked the licenses.
Over 4,000 pedestrians have died in road accidents this year
The protests sparked tensions, visibly alarming the government in fears of feared opposition meddling ahead of a general election at the end of the current year. More than 4,200 pedestrians were killed in road accidents in Bangladesh in 2017, a 25% increase from 2016, according to the private research group, the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads, and Railways.
