Students are they? Or they are messengers of people's sufferings? The questions were widely asked by people of all walks of life who had been held hostage on the clogged roads in the capital Dhaka as Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of ruling Awami League, celebrated 69th anniversary of its founding on Wednesday amid an unprecedented wild zest.
BCL held a massive rally in the capital to mark the occasion but tens of thousands of BCL activists and cadres also spilled through each and every road in the jammed city with heavy congestion of stranded vehicles. The BCL "bullies" not only ruled the streets but sent traffic police to watch helplessly one of the Dhaka's biggest traffic snarls.
Vehicles virtually did not move. Ambulances heading to hospitals were forced to standstill with the patients inside gasping forfresh air. Along with them were women, children and the elderly on the streets. "The city has turned into a virtual hell," muttered a frustrated commuter standing outside the BIRDEM hospital at Shahabag.
Outdoor ward of BMSSU hospital treated only indoor patients while some others desperately looked for transport to leave the place. Buses, trucks, CNG-run autos and rickshaws all were forced out of service by the unruly, aggressive BCL cadres.
The BCL took out a procession from Dhaka University's 'Modhur Canteen' at 12pm, joined on the way by thousands of fellow students who arrived in the city from across the country by hundreds of buses and lorries.
They held rallies on various city points blocking traffic, chanting, romping, singing and displaying outrageous feats. At Shahabag corner, BCL ehthusiasts lent voice to popular singer James singing on audio his hit numbers. It was jubilation all around - sans people's safety -- featuring plenty of nuisance and annoying activities.
One angry commuter was heard saying "why the traffic police are there on the street, what are they doing? BCL have granted them an optional holiday."
Another bystander said, "Go home and enjoy the break. BCL has already taken over the roads and you have no role to play whatsoever."
Anger, frustration and hopelessness swept the city of 15 million people throughout the day, with hours people wasted on their way to work.
Businesses were disturbed, some schools were shut early while everyone wished such a painful day never comes again. Places around the Dhaka University campus turned totally immovable by 1:30 pm.
City dwellers, already pestered with regular traffic congestion, saw what they said was worst traffic gridlock in many years.
A private service holder said he had to abandon his car near Prime Minister's Office and walk nearly a kilometre to reach his office at Farmgate. "Two hours has passed but my driver could not even reach Farmgate yet." Similar experiences were shared by many others.
Although Dhaka metro traffic police had earlier assured people the founding anniversary would be observed in an orderly manner, hardly any order was visible on the streets on Wednesday. Massive traffic snarl was seen in all or most areas of the capital in the afternoon.
Even on a winter day, people sweated for hours on the roads and prayed BCL to hold its anniversary functions away from public avenues in future. "They have no right to hold us hostage," one elderly commuter at Kawranbazar said. The government should take necessary measures to stop such "nuisance,"he added.
