Sajek blockade to resume Thursday after Durga Puja pause

Ethnic minority groups demanding security measures would resume blockades leading to Sajek Valley in Rangamati on Thursday after observing a four-day suspension to allow Hindu devotees celebrate the Durga Puja festival.

The protest organisers, Sajek Karbari Association and the Sajek Gono Odhikar Rokkha Committee, have urged all the tourists to return to their respective destinations by Wednesday “for their own safety.”

Earlier on 11 and 15 October, the two groups organised day-long road blockades, demanding the removal of “terrorist members” of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), a radical group demanding self-determination for the ethnic minority groups in the Chattogram Hill Tracts, from the Sajek Valley.

The protesters alleged that PCJSS members have recently increased their “militant activities” in the valley, threatening the security of local minority communities.

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The two groups have also raised objections to what they said arbitrary house searches and harassment by law enforcers, and have demanded an end to these.

In the afternoon of 11 October, the blockade was paused for 48 hours after the authorities assured the agitators of meeting their demands.

Following the deadline, they resumed the blockade as the demands remained unmet, but paused again before Friday as two local Durga Puja festival organising groups sought a reprieve.