Students were seen on the streets of the capital city for about one and a half hours voicing their demands for half fare on the buses and safety on roads on Friday.
A group of students took position on a part of Rampura Bridge from 11 am to 12:30 noon. They left the road after announcing their next programme.
After the protest concluded, Shohagi Samia, a student of Khilgaon Model College, a representative of the protesting students, announced a new campaign to display a ‘Red Card’ against traffic violators at Rampura Bridge from today noon (Saturday).
The agitated students said that the 11 demands that have been raised including safe roads and half fare for all students across the country should be implemented as soon as possible.
“We will continue the movement till our demands are implemented. Since there are HSC exams tomorrow (Saturday), we will stand on the streets tomorrow (Saturday) at 12 noon in support of our demands,” said a group of protesting students.
A large number of police personnel were deployed in the area of Rampura around the agitating students.
“If anyone tries to disrupt the motive of the movement and creates a political agenda, the police should give us protection. What we are demanding is our right and all the demands are logical, hence there should not be any obstacles,” Shohagi said.
Students have been protesting on the streets voicing a number of demands, including a concession on public transport fares for the students after the fares was hiked due to increased fuel prices. Students have been blocking roads all over Dhaka over the past few weeks to realise their demands.
However, the protests took a more intense turn resulting from the deaths of two students in road accidents.
Dhaka bus owners agreed to charge students half fare on some conditions, however, protesters remained dissatisfied and continued with their movement.
Their demands include half fare for students across the country and not only in Dhaka and throughout the day.
