Workers-owners have nothing to do with transport strike, says BNP leader

Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation Joint General Secretary and Special Assistant to Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Advocate Shamshur Rahman Shimul Biswas said that the transport strikes that are being held before the mass rally of BNP have nothing to do with transport owners or workers.

"Police along with the local administration and ruling party cadres forced the transport strike completely under the instructions of the government," Shamshur Rahman Shimul Biswas said in a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Monday (7 November).

"The common people of the country have suffered endlessly due to the forced strike by the government. Besides, the transport owners and workers, both parties, have been financially affected. The real truth is that none of the employers and workers in the road transport sector want this politically motivated strike, all are against the strike," he added. 

"There have also been incidents in some areas where many transport workers have been attacked by government party cadres when they took out their vehicles," he further said. 

He said that due to the forced strike, common people had to suffer in various ways.

"People could not go from one area to another for urgent needs. Even, the relatives could not go to the hospital with critical patients. In one word, this strike is against the masses," he said. 

"The government is using the name of the transport organization to make the trade unions questionable in the public eye. The strike is being organized to disrupt the rally, create public nuisance before a peaceful rally by the opposition parties," Shimul Biswas added.