Common people left in miseries

Abdul Matin sells caps and books at a roadside shop in the city's Tejturibazar area. His daily sale before the blockade was around Tk 1,000, which drastically dropped to Tk 400 now.

He lives in a rented house of two rooms at Tejturibazar. To earn some extra bucks, he rented out one of the rooms where six people can stay, like in a student's mess. But only three people have been staying there since the blockade began on January 6.

"Very few people are coming to Dhaka nowadays due to the blockade and hartal," said Matin, who hails from Comilla.

He has three school going children, and he sends Tk 6,000 every month for their education. Sadly, he could not arrange the money this time.

"How can people run families under such circumstances?" asked Matin.

Zobaer Ahmed, 30, a farmer in Chapainawabganj, had invested Tk 4 lakh in palm cultivation, but he had to count a loss of Tk 50,000 as he faced difficulties in shipping his produce to other places due to the transport blockade.

"I could have made a net profit of at least Tk 2 lakh, but that didn't happen," he told The Daily Star over the phone.

Besides, the transport cost had shot up in the wake of arson attacks and crude bomb blasts on vehicles.

At least 71 people died in such attacks since January 6.

The latest victim of firebombing is Mohammad Idris, 17, of Cox's Bazar, who died at Chittagong Medical College Hospital yesterday. The auto-rickshaw carrying Idris and four others came under attack at Patiya in Chittagong on February 11.

On top of the ongoing blockade, frequent shutdowns have also put some 1.5 million candidates of SSC and equivalent exams in uncertainty.

Today's exams will now be held on February 27 from 9:00am. So far, SSC and equivalent exams were rescheduled seven times.

Meanwhile, alleged pickets set fire to at least four vehicles in different places while police arrested 35 BNP-Jamaat activists in connection with violence and arson attacks from across the country.

In Dhaka, miscreants torched a bus of Tanzil Paribahan in front of Jagannath University around 6:45pm, fire service officials said.

Two people, including a schoolteacher, were injured in a crude bomb blast at TSC area of Dhaka University yesterday evening.

In another incident, four people, including three rickshaw pullers, were injured in a cocktail blast in front of Nilkhet Police Outpost around 8:00pm. They were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said police.

Criminals hurled several cocktails in front of the gate of Mugda Police Station, leaving an Ansar member injured.

Hartal supporters hurled petrol bombs at a covered van of Pran-RFL Group on Bogra-Naogaon road at Bogra sadar around 6:00am yesterday. Police arrested 17 BNP-Jamaat men in this connection.

In Chandpur, alleged pickets set alight to a fish-laden pick-up van at Laxmipur area when it was heading to Chandpur from Narayanganj.

Miscreants torched two vehicles carrying pesticides at Kamalpur in Moulvibazar around 6:00am, police said.

Police detained Yamir Ali, ameer of Moulvibazar municipality unit Jamaat, for his alleged involvement in the arson.

In Chittagong, police arrested three alleged Shibir activists with five petrol bombs and five crude bombs from a student's mess at Bakalia early yesterday.

A CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver was injured as alleged pickets hurled a cocktail at his vehicle at Hathhazari in Chittagong yesterday afternoon.

Joint forces arrested 13 BNP-Jamaat men in Chapainawabganj on Monday night, police said.

In Sirajganj, police arrested Ariful Islam Arif, organising secretary of Sirajganj Government University College unit of JCD, on charge of petrol bomb attack on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) expressed deep concern over the ongoing violence, arson attacks and burning people, and urged all political parties to avoid violence.