A day-long blockade of the Sajek tourist road and the Dighinala road was enforced on Sunday, demanding an end to violent attacks by armed groups in Sajek, the tourist spot in Baghaichhari upazila of Rangamati, and security for the area. Protesters also condemned an armed show of force at Bhaibonchhara Government Primary School and an attack in which tourists were held hostage.
The blockade ran on the road from Sajek to Dighinala from 6am on Sunday (November 1). No vehicle bound for Sajek left Dighinala from the morning, and the blockade was being strictly enforced at several points along the road.
Protesters blocked the road at several places with logs, bamboo and bricks and by burning tyres.
The blockade was observed in Dighinala, Baghaihat No. 10 and Kanthaltali, and local people joined the programme called by the Chittagong Hill Tracts Protection Committee.
The blockade was announced on Saturday (October 31) in a press release signed by Bindu Lal Chakma, member secretary of the committee.
The release strongly protested what it called the anti-state violence of armed groups in Sajek union, the obstruction of tourism and the repeated blockades that hold ordinary people’s lives hostage. Ambulances carrying patients, fire service vehicles and journalists’ vehicles were exempt from the blockade.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report