Highway, railway blockade in Gazipur underway

Diploma engineers and students of polytechnic institutes staged protests in Gazipur on Tuesday by blocking the railway lines, halting train services on the Dhaka–Rajshahi and Dhaka–Mymensingh routes for about two hours. They have also announced a blockade programme on highways and railway tracks in Gazipur from 10am on Wednesday.

The protest was organised against the reported harassment of diploma engineers at the Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited (NESCO) and in support of the three-point demand of the Engineers’ Rights Movement.

On Tuesday afternoon, diploma engineers initially staged a demonstration on Shimultali Road in Gazipur city under the banner of the Diploma Engineers’ Welfare Foundation. Later, they brought out a procession and blocked the railway at Bhurulia, causing suspension of train movement on the Dhaka–Rajshahi and Dhaka–Mymensingh routes.

Naziruzzaman, In-charge of the Joydebpur Railway Police Outpost, said that due to the blockade, train operations were halted from around 4:30 pm for nearly two hours. During this time, a train named Chitra Express was stranded at Mouchak Station.

At the rally, speakers said that more than 4 million diploma engineers and about 400,000 polytechnic students across the country are being subjected to a smear campaign. They termed the three-point demand raised by BSc engineering students as completely baseless and unreasonable, adding that such demands would create instability in the national job sector and fuel resentment among students and professionals.

At the event, the Diploma Engineers’ Welfare Foundation called for the acceptance of their seven-point demand. They also announced the blockade of highways and railway tracks in Gazipur starting from 10:00 am today (Wednesday).