Ominous Effects of Blockading Roads in the Capital

Nowadays, it has become a new trend for a section of people in society to take to the streets in the capital to realise their group's interests without giving any prior notice to commuters. As demonstrators block roads for hours, long traffic tailbacks paralyse the city, leaving commuters stranded and costing them valuable working hours. The narrow roads and streets of Dhaka further aggravate the situation.

Needless to say, almost all year round, the roads of Dhaka city are beset with manifold problems of this kind. Excessive pressure from a huge number of vehicles, illegal parking, the dumping of construction materials and waste on roads, the closure of roads for political programmes, haphazard road digging, and the illegal occupation of roads by hawkers and street vendors seriously reduce the actual usable width of our roads. Worsening the situation further, demonstrators occupy roads, putting the last nail in the coffin of our already crippled traffic system.

The mass uprising of July–August 2024 paved the way for the restoration of some basic democratic rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and freedom of assembly. However, holding rallies, protests, processions, sit-ins, and demonstrations indiscriminately by blocking roads and busy places such as the Secretariat area without giving any prior notice to commuters also violates the rights of others. Innocent commuters and patients always have to pay the price for such disruptions.

Bangladesh now needs to adopt some good practices from developed countries and reject activities that consistently stand in the way of its economic progress. People should understand that blockading roads and streets creates major disruption to the smooth flow of traffic and adversely affects the national economy. It also hampers the normal activities of office-goers, government officials, businesspersons, patients, commuters, and pedestrians alike. In doing so, it disrupts the discipline of the entire traffic system in the city.

It also sends the wrong signal to the public, giving them the impression that things are not on the right track. Arguably, if any injustice is done to an individual or a group of people, they can easily bring it to the government's attention by posting about it on social media. Holding programmes such as processions, rallies, sit-ins, or demonstrations should only be considered as a last resort. Even then, the language, manner, and mode of such protests should be decent, logical, articulate, and peaceful. Under no circumstances should such assemblies harm people or turn violent and destructive. According to the Penal Code of 1860, when a peaceful assembly turns violent, it becomes the duty of the law enforcement agencies to bring it under control with an iron fist.

Every conscious citizen should bear in mind that the culture of organising large gatherings on roads always causes hardship to ordinary people. Even government and non-government organisations should not be allowed to hold rallies or events by occupying public roads on important national and international occasions. By occupying roads, participants in such programmes often leave them dirty and littered with empty plastic water bottles, chip packets, and other waste. However, if a protest is urgent, it can be arranged before or after office hours. Ironically, whereas individuals and organisations rarely dared to hold rallies to press their demands during the previous authoritarian regime, people are now taking to the streets on the flimsiest of pretexts.

This culture of blocking roads damages the country's image both at home and abroad. Earlier, hartals were used as a weapon to press home political demands. Although hartals had devastating impacts on people's lives and livelihoods, they at least gave people alternative options for reaching their destinations because they knew beforehand when the protest would take place. In contrast, the sudden demonstrations seen nowadays disrupt the movement of ordinary people without any prior notice, which is clearly unjust. What, then, can be the way out? The government should designate a specific place, such as Hyde Park in England, that remains open throughout the year for staging demonstrations. Suhrawardy Udyan could be a suitable option. Declaring it Bangladesh's Human Rights Park for holding all types of processions, rallies, and demonstrations could serve the purpose well. However, before doing so, Suhrawardy Udyan should be cleared of all unnecessary structures erected by previous regimes.