Desk Report,
Sunamganj transport workers call for indefinite strike
Transport workers have called for an indefinite strike over a dispute with students of Sunamganj University of Science and Technology (SUSP) over bus fares. Due to this, bus services on all routes from Sunamganj have been suspended since Sunday evening.
Sunamganj transport workers call for indefinite strike
District Transport Workers Union President Sejaul Karim said around 10 pm on Sunday that the workers have called for a strike on three demands. Therefore, all bus services from Sunamganj have been suspended. CNG-powered autorickshaws will also not operate in the district from Monday morning.
The workers’ three-point demands include ensuring the safety of workers, trial of attacks on workers, and release of jailed workers. Local sources said that a bus worker had a dispute with students of SUSP over bus fares on Sunday morning. Due to this, the transport workers blocked the Sunamganj-Sylhet road for two hours in the afternoon. Later, they called for a strike. After that, buses did not leave Sunamganj for Sylhet or anywhere else in the country.
The temporary campus of Subiprob is located in Sunamganj Textile Institute, next to the Sunamganj-Sylhet road in Shantiganj upazila of Sunamganj district. It is 17 kilometers away from the district town.
It was learned from talking to transport workers and students that on Sunday morning, some students from the district town went to the campus by a bus bound for Sylhet. While getting off there, there was a fight between the workers and the students over the fare.
The transport workers alleged that the students vandalized a car while getting off the campus in Shantiganj during an argument over the fare. When the incident came to light, the transport workers blocked the road in front of the Sunamganj bus terminal at around 3 pm demanding justice for the culprits. At that time, vehicles were stuck on both sides of the road. People suffered. Later, the police went and talked to the workers and the blockade was lifted around 5 pm.
Sujaul Kabir, president of the Sunamganj District Transport Workers Union, said that university students have quarreled with the workers over the fare before. They have beaten the workers and vandalized the bus. They beat up a worker on Sunday. Angry workers blocked the road in protest of the incident.
Abdur Rahman, a student of the chemistry department of Subiprob, said that some first-year students of the university had an argument with the bus driver’s assistant over half the fare while coming from Sunamganj district town to Shantiganj. At one stage, the assistant pushed a student. This led to a dispute between the two parties. Abdur Rahman said that the students on the bus claimed that the bus driver’s assistant involved in the argument was a drug addict.
District Bus-Minibus, Microbus Workers Union General Secretary Md. Nurul Haque said, “Such incidents between students and workers are happening again and again. But the workers have not received fair justice. One of our workers named Delwar Hossain has been in jail for almost five months due to an accident. We want his release. Apart from this, another CNG-powered autorickshaw worker named Anwar Hossain was attacked. Even after the case was filed, the police are not arresting the accused.”
