Pedal rickshaw pullers have left the Shahbag intersection after blocking the road and protesting to demand the ban of battery-powered auto-rickshaws on the main roads of Dhaka. At that time, they fixed 72 hours to stop autorickshaws.
They blocked the Shahbag intersection from 10 am on Monday (August 26). As a result, traffic stopped in Shahbagh area. Later they left Shahbagh around 12:30 PM.
At that time, they chanted slogans demanding the ban of auto-rickshaws, ‘No auto-rickshaws will not run’, ‘Illegal auto-rickshaws will not be allowed to run’, ‘Discrimination in Bangladesh – Mani Na Manab’, ‘Jallo Re Jallo – Light the fire’, etc.
The rickshaw pullers claim that earlier auto rickshaws did not ply on the main roads. Then pedal rickshaws fetched adequate fares. Now autorickshaws run everywhere, no one says anything. As a result pedal rickshaw pullers do not get any fare. If the autorickshaws are stopped under the previous rules, they will get the fare.
A rickshaw driver named Mubarak Ali said, if we don’t get rent, how will our stomach run? How will our family run? So our demand is that auto rickshaws were not plying on the main roads like before. That rule must be reintroduced. If we don’t, we will starve to death. Our demand is simple and so is the solution. The government can introduce the previous rules if it wants. We are giving them 72 hours to do so.
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