Bangladesh: Mass student protests after deadly road accident

Bangladeshi students burn an effigy of Bangladesh's Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan, who is also a transport workers' leader [AM Ahad/AP]

Tens of thousands of students in Bangladesh have rallied for a fifth consecutive day after two teenagers were killed by a speeding bus.
The demonstrators, mostly students in their mid-teens, chanted "we want justice" on Thursday as they defied pouring rain to march in the capital, Dhaka, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Anger has not subdued since a bus racing for passengers killed Diya Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib on the roadside on Sunday.

According to local reports, the protests appeared to be spontaneous and disorganised, with the students not appearing to have any spokespersons or leadership.

"We've never seen this unprecedented number of students [in the streets]," said Al Jazeera's Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from Dhaka, adding that the protesters were supported by their guardians.

Chowdhury said the students are calling for major reforms.

"Overall, there is a general frustration among the public because there is no room for demonstration or free expression," he said.

"Students don't seem [to be] moving out of the street anytime soon, unless must of their demands are met," he added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina consoled the parents of the two teens who lost their lives and said she would stand by the families with all possible means, according to press secretary Ihsanul Karim.

"I have no language to console you as I can feel the pain of losing near and dear one ... In one night I lost all members of my family," he quoted her as saying during talks with the family members.

May be I couldn't attend the protest physically but seeing my frnd @SumaiyaTumpa attending the protest I m kinda feeling proud & relieved ♥ #RoadSafety#নিরাপদসড়কচাই#Bangladeshpic.twitter.com/Rm1VdK6O2J

— I better get in a public university 🇧🇩 (@TasmimRashid) August 2, 2018

Corrupt and dangerous

Bangladesh's transport sector is widely perceived as corrupt, unregulated and dangerous.

Meanwhile, a comment by Shajahan Khan, a government minister with ties transport unions, triggered fresh outrage.

"A road crash has claimed 33 lives in India's Maharashtra; but do they talk about it the way we do?" he asked.

After these remarks, there were immediate demands for his resignation despite the minister later offering an apology.

The education ministry shut down high schools in an effort to quell unrest, promising students their demands for reforms to road safety would be considered.

"They should have taken our demands seriously, but they didn't," Imran Ahmed, a protesting student, said.

Authorities say more than 300 vehicles have been vandalised since the protests started.

"We don't want any vehicles without licences on the streets. Those unfit to drive should not get licences, and we don't want underage motorists driving public transport," protester Mohammad Sifat told AFP news agency.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Wednesday promised that the government would launch a public transport safety campaign and urged the protesters to go home.

"People are suffering and we don't want this," he said.

According to the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways, a private research group, more than 4,200 pedestrians were killed in road accidents last year, a 25 percent increase from 2016.

Protests are expected to resume on Friday.

Bangladeshi students shout slogans as they block a road during a protest in Dhaka [A. M. Ahad/Bangladesh]

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Protesters paralyze parts of Bangladesh after a speeding bus kills two students

Last weekend, after a speeding bus struck and killed two students in Dhaka, Bangladesh, their peers began to pour into the streets to demand justice.
Since then, tens of thousands of students, many dressed in school uniforms, have essentially shut down the capital, blocking roads and preventing transit through much of the city. They're calling for improvements to road safety in Bangladesh, where around 12,000 people are killed in road accidents each year, according to the Associated Press.

As the protests grew in recent days, students stopped vehicles — including those belonging to government officials — to ask them for their papers and licenses. Some buses have been vandalized and set on fire, including one that was set ablaze after it hit and killed a motorcyclist Friday, local news reports said.

This week, the Daily Star, Bangladesh's leading English-language newspaper, said bus services have been suspended around the country because major roadways in Dhaka are now blocked and drivers fear the huge crowds of students.

On Saturday, clashes broke out after police used tear gas and batons to scatter protesters. Agence-France Presse said students were fighting with other young adults. The news agency also reported that more than 100 people were injured after police fired rubber bullets into the crowds. “A few of them were in very bad condition,” one doctor told AFP.

The government closed high schools on Thursday in an effort to put an end to the protests.

The Daily Star reported that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina encouraged students to quit protesting so they could return to class. Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal spoke on the government's behalf this week, saying “all the demands raised by the agitating students are logical, and the process to implement those demands is underway.”

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan questioned the protesters' fury, saying that in neighboring India, a recent crash killed more than 30 people, “but do they talk about it the way we do?” He apologized after outrage on social media, with many people calling for him to step down. Bangladeshi news outlets reported that he later visited the families of one of the students killed by the bus to apologize.

The protests come just months before general elections scheduled for December and follow another series of protests in Dhaka this past spring. At that time, students boycotted classes to protest the government's job quota system, which limited the number of open roles for university graduates. Hasina also encouraged students then to quit their protests: “They have demonstrated enough protests; now let them return home,” she said in response.

Kamal told Reuters this week that the government has promised students it will fulfill their demands. But he said he fears “the movement may turn violent as there is conspiracy to … make the government inoperative.”

There have been reports that both the ruling party and opposition have mobilized supporters to infiltrate the protests.

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ISLAMABAD: The recently held general elections put cricket star-turned politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a comfortable position to form government at the Centre, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the help of independents and small coalition partners.
With the PTI scooping 115 seats in the 272-member lower house of parliament, Khan is set to be elected as 21st prime minister of the country.

The PTI chief has directed that his oath-taking should be arranged at a simple and austere ceremony at the President House as no foreign dignitaries, players or actors are being invited for the purpose. No date for the oath-taking has been finalised yet.

However, he has decided to invite members of the Pakistan team which lifted world cup in 1992 under his captaincy to the oath-taking ceremony.

The champions – Waseem Akram, Javed Miandad, Ramiz Raja, Aamir Sohail, , Aqib Javed, Inzamam-ul-Haq Saleem Malik, Eijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Zahid Fazal, Wasim Haider and Iqbal Sikander are likely to be invited for the ceremony.

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ISLAMABAD: More than 200 Pakistanis, who were stranded in a Chinese city for over a week, heaved a sigh of relief when an aircraft of the Shaheen Air International (SIA) carrying them took off from Guangzhou airport on Monday, ARY News reported.
The aircraft reached Guangzhou this morning to bring back 214 passengers stranded there. It is expected to touch down at Lahore airport by 6:00 pm today.

The issue surfaced when the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) suspended the airline’s flight operation over non-payment of its dues of over Rs 1.5 billion.

As a result, the SAI flight which was to carry as many as 300 Pakistanis from the Chinese port city of Guangzhou was cancelled on July 29 and hence they were left stranded.

Some of the passengers had refunded their tickets while others were provided food and lodging.

Taking notice of media reports about the ordeal of the passengers, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had ordered the airline to immediately bring them back.

Afterwards, the CAA gave special permission to the airline to send an aircraft to repatriate the stranded passengers. The CAA engineers inspected the aircraft which was declared faulty and not airworthy.

Later, the faulty part (pipe) of the aircraft was procured from abroad and was installed by engineers after which the plane took off for China.

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It all started when Ghinwa, through a tweet, alleged Jemima of vacationing in Israel with her family.

In response, Jemima clarified that she was in Mexico and not Israel. And here’s what she wrote in an apparent rage: “This tweet is staggeringly ignorant and would be funny if it weren’t dangerous. The photo is taken on a family holiday in Mexico (not Israel) and we are wearing ponchos (not Jewish religious dress) @GhinwaBhutto – shame on you.”

Realising the misinformation she “unknowingly” shared, Ghinwa apologized to Jemima, but fuming evident in her tone: “@Jemima_Khan . Oh my god! that was Mexico ? My apologies. How perceptions can easily blind people , even me. But please, please do not lecture me about shame.”

The series of harsh exchanges between them on the micro-blogging website haven’t yet ended. Whether Jemima prefers another retort or skips the response that is yet to be seen.

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‘MQM won the election, and we need them’: Fawad Chaudhry

ISLAMABAD: Making a firm stance on retaining electoral alliance with the former foes, senior leader Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf Fawad Chaudhry says that Muttahida Qaumi Movement has won the election and PTI need them.

Speaking to journalists here, the PTI leader said his party would prefer to go forward with the MQM as a stakeholder.

He said the process of Imran Khan’s oath-taking was very important. He informed that the party’s parliamentary committee meeting would nominate Imran Khan as the prime minister today.

Imran, he said, will lay forward his proposals before the committee.

The high-level huddle is also likely to pick the candidates for speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

The PTI is said to have the support of 177 MNAs-elect against 172 required to elect the PTI chief as leader of the 342-member lower house of the parliament.

Yesterday, Fawad Chaudhry said the parliamentary party will nominate Mr. Khan as its pick for the coveted slot of premier.

He said the names of speaker and deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament will also be discussed in the meeting.

The PTI claims to be enjoying the support of 125 MNAs which include at least nine independent members out of the total of 13. However, its tally reaches 174 with addition of its small coalition partners and reserved seats for women and minorities.

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The high-level huddle of the PTI parliamentary party is currently underway at a local hotel.

It is also likely to pick the candidates for speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

The PTI claims to be enjoying the support of 125 MNAs which include at least nine independent members out of the total of 13. However, its tally reaches 174 with addition of its small coalition partners and reserved seats for women and minorities.

It will also get support from Balochistan National Party (Mengal) after which its total numbers in the National Assembly would reach 177.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q), Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P), the Sindh based Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) and Awami Muslim League (AML) have allied with the PTI to help it form the new government at the Centre.

The PTI, which is now in a comfortable position to elect Khan as the next prime minister, is said to have also finalised the names of party leaders who will be part of his cabinet. The PM-in-waiting has already expressed the desire to have a smaller cabinet.

As per procedure, if a party has a clear majority or the magical number of 172 votes, it can easily elect the Leader of the House in the National Assembly.

The PTI emerged as the single largest party with 115 seats in the 2018 general elections but fell short of a clear majority in the 342-member house.

According to the Constitution, if the PTI chief manages to secure 172 or more votes in the first round, the president is bound to call him to take the oath as the country’s next prime minister.

In case, he doesn’t get the required number, then there will be a second round of voting between the top two contestants for the slot. In this round, the winner will not need at least 172 votes but the contender who gets the majority of votes will be elected leader of the lower house.

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