Bangladesh: Eight trains stranded after students hold protest in Dhaka

Dhaka, Aug 13 Eight trains, including one carrying oil, were stranded after the students blocked railway tracks on the Dhaka-northern districts' route on Wednesday to demand the approval and full enforcement of the Development Project Proposal (DPP) for the permanent campus of Rabindra University.

Students began the protest at Ullapara Railway Station in Sirajganj at 9 am (local time). Eight trains, including one carrying oil, were stuck on both sides of the blockade. A previous protest and a highway blockade was held on Sunday at Hatikumrul Golchattar, demanding swift approval of the DPP for the permanent campus, Bangladesh's leading daily, Dhaka Tribune reported.

At the time, the protesters had given 48 hours to the government to respond. However, they received no feedback from the government, resulting in the railway blockade at Ullapara Station on Wednesday.

Protesting students expressed regret that campus of the public university has not been built even after eight years. They further stated that students, academic faculty and staff have been facing severe difficulties in conducting academic activities. They threatened that they would not leave the campus until the construction of the campus is not fully implemented.

Bangladesh's Western Railway General Manager Farid Ahmed said that rail communication between Dhaka and the western region remained disrupted due to the blockade. The trains that remained stranded included Silk City, Chilahati, Rangpur, Ekota, Dhumketu, one oil-carrying carriage at Chatmohor, Kurigram and Chitra Express. He stated that the situation had not reached a level of schedule disruption.

Earlier on Monday, students had blocked the Dhaka–Pabna highway to hold a freshman welcoming ceremony, as part of the protests to demand DPP approval. The ceremony was scheduled to be held at the temporary campus auditorium. However, limited seating led to students welcoming new students on the highway in protest.

The DPP for the permanent campus of Rabindra University has not been approved even nine years following its establishment. Students have consistently protested over the delay in approving the proposal of construction of university campus, according to the report.

Earlier, students blocked highways during consecutive protest activities from January 19-30, after which the government had given them assurances, which resulted in temporary suspension of protests. Since the DPP did not get approval so far, students resumed protests through boycott of the event during the observance of Rabindra University Day on July 26.

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