Photo: Messenger
All the victims of discrimination are breathing a sigh of relief after taking charge of the interim government led by Dr. Muhammad Yunus. All the pains and sufferings of people for 16 long years were buried in a gem of the heart. The victims seem to have no environment to talk about injustice, irregularities and reforms. All their demands seem to be with this interim government. After the interim government took over, the protestors have been thronging the streets of Dhaka with collective demands and all demands for reforms.
In particular, the agitators gathered in front of the Bangladesh Secretariat, in front of the residence of the Chief Adviser and at important places in the capital, including Shapla Chatwar, to press their demands.
Subjects are participating in the movement.
After the change of political pot, a part of Ansar and Village Defense Forces also went into agitation with their demands, like various government departments.
Recently, Ansar protested in front of the secretariat with their demands. The general and unaffiliated members of Ansar took to the streets with the demand of permanent employment. They started protesting on August 21, 13 days after the new interim government took over.
On August 25, Ansar members from different parts of the country came and took a stand in front of the secretariat. They blocked the road. The aggrieved claim that they no longer want to work on the basis of daily allowance. Their jobs should be made permanent instead of 'rest'. There are about 70,000 Ansar forces in the country. Out of this 54 thousand 651 are providing security in various organizations as affiliated members. The remaining 14,000 are in 'rest'. Being on'rest' means he has no work. Ansar members who are on 'rest' get work opportunities when new demands are received by an organization or when the contract period of previous incumbents expires.
To get rid of this uncertainty, the demand to make the job permanent, said the members of Ansar who came to the protest.
The protesting Ansars closed all the gates of the secretariat and blocked the advisors, officials and employees staying in the secretariat.
Around 10,000 Ansar members surrounded the secretariat at different times on this day. They held seven advisers of the interim government hostage along with other senior officials of the secretariat.
According to ISPR, the director general of Ansar and VDP came to the secretariat in the afternoon to pacify the Ansar members and accepted all the demands of the Ansar members. However, the members of Ansar did not leave the secretariat area and blocked the director general of Ansar and VDP. Some Ansar members tried to enter by breaking Gate No. 3 of the Secretariat. Some Ansar members ambushed the students present at the spot. They threw bricks and hit them with sticks on the security patrol of the secretariat. At this time, six soldiers were injured. One of them is in critical condition.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul to the media said, "Don't try to collect anything by surrounding the secretariat; the people will not see it well. Students have brought all the changes in the country. I want to call as a teacher, don't do anything by using unnecessary force".
On August 26, pedal-powered rickshaw pullers took a stand at Shahbag intersection with 7 demands, including stopping the movement of battery/motorised rickshaws on the capital road. The main point of their demand is that autorickshaws should be stopped in Dhaka city. They left after the authorities promised to resolve their demands. But after this demand, battery/motorised rickshaw drivers took stand in Shahabagh with counter demand after noon. As a result, a back-and-forth chase began between pedal-powered and battery-powered rickshaw drivers.
Chief Advisor, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, said, "Every day since our assumption of office, gatherings are being held in the secretariat, around my office, in different places of the city. You have accumulated a lot of sufferings of the last 16 years. We understand that. If you do not allow us to work, then all this suffering will be done." The road will be closed. Request to you, let us work. Give us what you want in writing. We are not your opponent".
After taking charge of the interim government, every day the employees working in public and private offices are agitating in one way or another with various demands. In the meantime, after the success of the movement by the village police, the pace of the movement increased. Meanwhile, Bogra Judge Court employees have also protested with their various demands. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Judicial Employees Association has gathered news to demand the amendment of the recruitment rules, including the inclusion of subordinate court employees in the Bangladesh Judicial Service pay scale. Apprentice lawyers have also started agitating for various demands, including canceling the controversial written test, reforming the examination system. Those who are deprived of rights and victims of discrimination at various levels are holding agitations and press conferences. We all want the logical demands to be fulfilled. It is everyone's hope that irregularities and discrimination will end in all areas and that the people of Sonar Bengal will live happily and peacefully. We all wish that no one should be crushed by discrimination in a free country. It is everyone's sincere wish that the people of the country should enjoy the success of the movement of the young generation. There are many kinds of myths and tricks surrounding this expectation. A group is inciting different agitators. At this time, there are some unreasonable people who think it is the season of movement. There is a saying, 'Be angry and get angry' using the formula. These opportunist circles want to question the country and the interim government.
The government and the humanitarian people of the country are busy with the current flood situation of the country. Everyone is busy with how to stand by the flood-affected people of the country with collective efforts. In this situation, it is not logical to hold any protest in Dhaka. The current interim government is not a party government. So, this government would restore the country's democratic system along with maintaining overall peace and order; it will take some time to bring the country back to normalcy. In this situation, it becomes difficult for the government to handle the situation if they take to the streets with logical demands. We have seen how much anarchy, theft, robbery, murder, arson, and the extreme deterioration of law and order all over the country as a result of the police force's strike after Sheikh Hasina's resignation on August 5. To maintain the peace of the country, the police administration should be made neutral and people-friendly. People should have confidence in the police process, this situation should be created.
Corruption has crept in everywhere. Holes are arenas of corruption. Reforms of 16 years cannot be done in 16 days anymore. The young generation and students are now standing against corruption and irregularities. So, we hope that the irregularities will be reformed in all cases, but everyone has to be patient and cooperate with the government in this work. We all should cooperate with this interim government to maintain peace and order in the country.
The writer is an Advocate and Columnist, Judge Court, Khulna. He could be reached at: [email protected]
Messenger/Disha
