[blackwasp]

Students aged between 11 and 17 have been out on the roads for the past week protesting the death of 2 teenagers killed in a road accident. The students are demanding that the government of Bangladesh take action on those violating traffic rules and driving in a rash and negligent manner.

A rashly driven bus, in a bid to pick up more passengers, was speeding and mowed down two pedestrians on the roadside last week. This caused spontaneous and unorganised protests across the country. In 2017, over 4,200 pedestrians were killed in road accidents, an increase of 25% from the previous year.

The protests are appearing to come to an end following action taken by law enforcement agencies and the student's wing of the ruling party. Students in Chittagong announced that they would go back to classes this week, while those in Dhaka are still protesting. However, they were chased away by the Bangladesh Chhatra league activists who resorted to violence. Several journalists covering the protests were also targeted by the same group and received injuries.



Source: FirstPost

Link to the Team-BHP News

[ashwin1224]

Surprisingly it is Team-Bhp which is the first Indian medium(that I follow) to bring this protest to light. This protest is HUGE! I am attaching a post by a bangladeshi student on a popular internet message board Reddit:

FOR THOSE WHO DONT KNOW WHATS HAPPENING IN BANGLADESH.. READ THIS. On the 29th of July, two bus drivers were racing to pick up passengers and killed two students who were waiting for a bus. Since then, high school and college students took to the streets and have been protesting peacefully against dangerous road conditions (i.e. no driving and traffic regulations and poor enforcement). They took it upon themselves to manage traffic (creating emergency lanes; arranging them according to vehicle size) and checking licenses of every passing vehicle (including police vehicles) on major roads.
There are several students now dead and missing; all they did was demand safer roads in a country where people die from road accidents every single day. They took to the streets and checked licenses, regulated traffic, exposed an incredible number of people including government and ministry workers for driving without valid licenses. They had been doing a better job than traffic regulation and law enforcement officers in the city, and all they wanted was an assurance of safety.
This protest was entirely peaceful, wholesome and supported by most citizens. The government’s reaction to this was to send out student political parties to also don school uniforms and partake in the demonstrations. These “students” infiltrated the protests and initiated violence both on the students and public property, followed by law enforcement doing the same: opening fire and using anti-riot equipment such as tear gas, aimed at protesters who were 13-20 years old.
This event has gained traction on international media recently, and has been covered by multiple media outlets such as the New York Times and BBC. However, they’ve stated multiple times that the government claims these were instigated by the opposing party, while other parties have been trying to twist the narrative to fit their own agendas. However, that is NOT true. These are young students protesting PEACEFULLY against law-breakers and unsafe roads, they have no political affiliations whatsoever.
The government has also shut down mobile data in the country and slowed down internet speeds. They have been arresting and detaining people for posting things online that implied dissent, and multiple journalists have been attacked, detained and had their recording equipment seized and destroyed. The media was made to withdraw many of their previous statements and say their sources were wrong, and some hospitals are being pressured into turning away students who were injured at the protests.
Today, Bangladesh is a battleground. These "student politicians" have turned the streets into a hunting ground, chasing down these peaceful protesters and brutalizing them. They're literally hunting anyone that looks like a student and murdering and mauling in the most inhuman ways... And these monsters are supported by the government. Law enforcement and these thugs (who are all armed beyond their pay grade) have murdered multiple people already, committed other crimes like rape and also attacking those trying to help the children.

Source:
1. Comment by user AT_Asif


Its shocking how our news channels are silent on this issue. Turmoil in Bangladesh affects the stability of the entire region, it directly affects us as the refugee situation would only worsen because of it.



@Mods: It might turn political very soon, and while it is connected to one of the key aspects of our forum that is road safety, it is much more than a protest against rash driving.

[Doge]

https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/commen...eed_your_help/
Reddit was the first place where I got to know this from and from a few graphic photos shared by a victim, this is very bad. Must read if you want know first hand what happened there. I am proud of the students, india also needs something like this.
This is total dictatorship at hand and India must step in to help.

[blackwasp]

Update:

Local police has claimed of booking over 8,500 errant drivers, up from the usual 3000. However, since the protestors were met with violence, there are less number of students on the roads.

The protest not only highlights a complaint against the government, but also has has united many local citizens to come together for a cause. Many motorists have stayed off the roads due to fear of apprehension due to missing documents / lack of driving licenses.

The US embassy in Dhaka posted on Facebook has condemned the actions of the authorities on the peaceful protestors. Remarking against this, the Bangladeshi Information Minister said "By issuing this statement [on Facebook], the U.S. Embassy took an ill attempt of poking [its] nose in Bangladesh's internal politics in an indecent way. We condemn this."

Source: LA Times