The 20-party combine has been enforcing the nationwide blockade since January 6 which enters 51st day today, the longest ever non-stop blockade in the history of independent Bangladesh.
The agitation programmes, said the alliance, are aimed at putting pressure on the Awami League-led government to call for an early national election under a non-partisan administration.
But the mindless violence during the hartals and blockade has ruined the lives of common people. The economy has been hit hard and education has been messed up by the programmes. People cannot move freely as the agitation has so far claimed at least 75 lives and injured around 1,236.
Yet, there is no sign of an end to the political crisis. None of the rival political parties are ready to budge on their stance.
BNP Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed yesterday issued a press release announcing the extension of the 72-hour hartal that began on Sunday morning.
This means, the BNP-led alliance has now called hartals for all the 20 working days in this month. It did not enforce shutdown on the weekends.
As regards the blockade, even the weekends including February 21 (Saturday) were not free from the purview of the programme. The nation on that day observed International Mother Language Day.
Interestingly, the alliance has been staging agitations without its leaders taking to the streets.
PEOPLE SUFFER MOST
Already pushed into a tight corner, people are coming out of their houses to earn their livelihood. Their normal movement within and outside the cities have been hampered gravely by the agitation programmes.
A retired college teacher in Bogra, 62-year-old Nasimuddin Pramanik said:
“I saw non-cooperation movements against Pakistan in the 60's. People then had given their full support to the agitators. But there is no public backing for the present movement. It's only about power.”
His wife came to Dhaka on January 2 to see their newborn grandson, but now she cannot return home for fear of arson attacks.
Shikha Teresa, an NGO employee in the capital's Malibagh, said her school-going daughter's classes remain suspended on weekdays. Shikha was worried about her exam results.
Kallol Biswas, executive of a private firm in Habiganj, said he did not visit his parents in last three months as fear of arson attacks looms large.
Sohel Talukder, president of Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners' Association, said the number of passengers on the inter-district bus networks have declined by over 50 percent since the blockade started last month. Besides, no public transport plies the highways after 9:00pm as per a government directive.
“Most of the transport owners are small businessmen. Already counting losses, many of them cannot repay bank loans,” he added.
Transport workers, who work for daily wages, have been left helpless by the political programmes. If the grave political situation lingers on, they would die a pauper, feared Talukder.
Zinnur Ahmed Chowdhury, secretary general of Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh, said more passengers are now opting for air trips to avoid risky highways.
Hossain Khaled, president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI), said though the situation in the capital seems to be normal, it is not indicative of the state of affairs outside Dhaka.
“I have a jute business. But for the last two months, I couldn't transport a single truckload of jute to Comilla,” he mentioned.
Farmers also cannot sell their produce while supplies of farm inputs are getting hampered. All these will have a long-term impact on the economy.
If the businesses fail to arrange shipments of export products in time, buyers will move to other countries even paying at around 10 percent higher prices than in Bangladesh, said the DCCI president.
Kazi Akramuddin Ahmed, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the businesses have already incurred a loss of Tk 100,000 crore due to the agitation programmes.
The education ministry will decide today on the SSC and equivalent exams slated for tomorrow, said ministry sources.
Meanwhile, alleged blockaders on Monday night torched a vegetable-laden truck on Bogra-Rangpur highway in Bogra Sadar upazila.
In Dinajpur, miscreants burnt a Dhaka-bound bus of Shyamoli Enterprise and torched a banana-laden truck on Jaipur-Bogra highway in Khetlal upazila.
The Rab-3 said it recovered eight abandoned patrol bombs in the capital's Khilgaon yesterday afternoon.
