In less than a week, there have been two incidents of people dying in train sabotage. In these two incidents, at least 5 people died and many were injured. It is alleged that BNP-Jamaat activists were directly involved in the first incident and today's incident happened at the beginning of the hartal called by BNP-Jamaat.
Terrorists set fire to three compartments of the Mohanganj Express train leaving Netrakona at around 5 am on Tuesday morning while crossing Tejgaon station. Mohammad Mohsin, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon police station, said that the passengers saw fire in the compartment when they reached Khilkhet. When they started shouting, the driver stopped the train at Tejgaon station. Later, the fire service came and started working to extinguish the fire. At least four people, including women and a child, died in this fire incident today.
Last week the train vandalism happened on December 13. The blockade called by BNP-Jamaat was going on that day. This same Mohanganj Express was affected. One person was killed and several others were injured due to the cut of the line on the Jaydevpur-Mymensingh railway line and seven coaches including the engine were derailed. In that incident, police arrested Gazipur City Corporation Ward Councilor No. 28 and former BNP leader Hasan Ajmal Bhuiyan and seven activists of BNP and other organizations. Gazipur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mahbub Alam after the arrest said that several leaders of Chhatra Dal are involved in this incident. Police claim that political miscreants are causing sabotage incidents in the railways for media coverage in the country and abroad.
Cutting railway tracks, setting fire to railways and killing people and taking hostages is one motive, power by any means. The political identity of the perpetrators of the first incident has already been revealed, while the identity of the second is still undisclosed, but it is believed to have little chance of being different from the first. Because none of those who were traveling on this train were going anywhere for political purposes, they had a simple and necessary rail journey. They are targeted mainly for the purpose of intimidation and destabilization of the country.
The motives of the perpetrators of the separate incidents of rail vandalism were identical; Fear mongering and discussion in the international arena. There is no normal way of life in Bangladesh, people's lives are threatened by political instability, the human rights situation is alarming - these are the proofs they aim to prove. In such a situation, do they want the intervention of foreign forces to release the people? Probably so! Rail travel is considered the safest. But the motives of those who are up in arms about the current scaremongering of Safe Rail are surely political. They want to gain political advantage by taking people's lives hostage.
Last week and this week, the two days of rail sabotage were the days of BNP-Jamaat's political program. The previous one was during the blockade and this time during the hartal. BNP-Jamaat, which has failed in field politics, has started to implement its program by trying to create fear. In the last one and a half month, they could not stay in the field for more than a minute, but during this time they set fire to hundreds of vehicles and vandalized them. When the issue of fire in the vehicles started to come under the control of the administration, they chose the route of sabotaging the train. It is not possible to keep all parts of the long railway line across the country under the control of the administration; they have made the railway a target for sabotage. And people are burning in the fire of their lack of power.
After the failed general meeting on October 28, BNP could not survive in the field due to the strong suppression policy of the government. The leaders and activists of BNP from the center to the periphery are hiding in the mass arrest. Government’s senior minister Abdur Razzak admitted that the government resorted to mass arrests to control the strike-blockade. The 'inexperienced’ in movement' BNP' could not stand up to the power of the administration and the political power. BNP is now walking on the path of sabotage to cover up this failure of the movement. And people's lives are becoming endangered in this vandalism.
The 12th Jatiya Sangsad(JS)election is scheduled to be held on January 7. At the end of all the processes, now the campaigning stage of voting is going on. After the start of election campaign, BNP has called for hartal against the instructions given by the Ministry of Home Affairs by banning meetings and political programs. Before and after these hartals called by BNP-Jamaat and after vandalizing vehicles during the hartal, press releases claimed that the program was successful. This time will not be an exception. BNP is absent in the field, but the demand program is successful; But fire is the only measure of success?
A day after political miscreants killed one person by cutting a railway line in an accident last week, a sabotage attempt was made by removing 72 clips from the railway line at Domar in Nilphamari. However, the border express train was saved from the accident as the locals saw it beforehand. Earlier there was an attempt to sabotage Upaban Express in Sylhet by setting it on fire. Earlier there was a planned sabotage attempt on Tangail commuter train, Jamuna Express at Sarishabari in Jamalpur. Although there was no loss of life in the earlier incidents, they had preparatory activities to target railways for sabotage. Who is doing this sabotage, why are they doing it - you don't need to be a researcher for this; A little political knowledge is enough here to know the identity of the miscreants.
Railways have now come under attack by political miscreants after the incident of setting fire to vehicles. This vehicle, which is the top choice of passengers for safe travel, was also damaged during the fire-terror of 2013-14. Now that sad day is back. Along with strict legal action against those involved in sabotage, effective initiatives by the appropriate authorities are necessary to make rail travel safe again.