Dhaka paralysed by Titumir College student protests as traffic gridlock worsens

Hafiz Mia boarded a bus from the capital’s Gulistan around 12pm, expecting a routine journey. Four hours later, he remained stranded at the Saat Rasta intersection in Tejgaon, immobilised in the gridlock that had gripped the city.

“College students are sitting on the road. The vehicle isn’t moving. I’m still stuck at Saat Rasta intersection. I can’t even walk because I have some belongings with me,” he told.

Sonia Akhtar found herself trapped in the same ordeal. She had set out for Banani to visit her ailing mother, but her private car remained motionless at the Tibet intersection in Tejgaon for three hours, ensnared in the deepening congestion.

On Thursday, the final working day of the week, a blockade by the students of Titumir College gripped the capital into a massive gridlock. Traffic came to a halt across Gulshan-Banani, Mohakhali, Tejgaon, Bijoy Sarani, Jahangir Gate, and Moghbazar. By 6:45pm, the protesters remained on the streets—some lying on the pavement, others standing on the road while holding banners and chanting slogans.

The protest began on Thursday as students blocked the Gulshan-Mohakhali road, escalating tensions amid a hunger strike by five demonstrators demanding, among other things, the conversion of Titumir College into a university.

“Five of us were on a hunger strike demanding the transformation of the college into a university,” said Ali Ahmed, one of the protesters.

“Despite the campus shutdown, the principal is organising cultural programmes. Even after the hunger strikers fell ill, he did not speak to them. Instead, they played music through microphones at us. The students grew angry and took to the streets.”

The blockade brought much of Mohakhali and its surrounding areas to a standstill, leaving passengers and pedestrians struggling in gridlocked streets on the eve of the Bishwa Ijtema. Traffic on the Gulshan-Banani road from Moghbazar remained at a complete halt for hours.

Under the circumstances, many commuters abandoned their buses and walked to their destinations. But those traveling from afar had little choice but to wait, stranded in their seats, their luggage and belongings piled beside them.

Around 3:30pm, 65-year-old Abed Ali, who had been stuck for hours in a bus in Tejgaon, finally decided to start walking.

He told bdnews24.com: “I got down from Balaka Paribahan and started walking toward Karwan Bazar. Not a single alley is empty. Everything seems paralysed by the traffic jam.”

However, the journey quickly wore him down. He paused at the Saat Rasta intersection to catch his breath before pressing on.

He said, “This is how the strike will be—the government is silent, the administration is silent… Where will we, the ordinary people, go?”

Tania Sultana, additional deputy commissioner of traffic for Tejgaon Division, acknowledged the widespread disruption caused by the Titumir College protests.

“The movement has affected the entire Mohakhali and Tejgaon areas. Vehicles are moving very slowly in that direction, leading to severe traffic congestion.”

She added that authorities were working to manage the situation. “We are trying to maintain regular traffic flow in coordination with the Mohakhali area. Those using the elevated expressway are being allowed through. We are doing our best to keep traffic moving.”

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Traffic for Gulshan Division Md Ziaur Rahman said authorities were working to ease the gridlock by redirecting vehicles.

“We are trying to pass vehicles coming from Uttara through the flyover. At the same time, we are managing traffic by sending vehicles from the opposite direction toward Banani.”

“Today is Thursday, and tomorrow is Ijtema. We are trying to manage the situation somehow with divers.”

Elsewhere in Dhaka, students of Donia University College in Shanir Akhra staged their own protest, blocking the road for about two hours in the afternoon. The demonstration triggered severe traffic congestion on major routes leading from Jatrabari to Narayanganj, Sylhet, and Chattogram.

The unrest followed Tuesday evening’s protests, when students took to the streets outside Donia College after Minhajul Islam, a student, was hacked to death.

Md Azad Rahman, deputy commissioner of traffic for the Wari Division, said the students returned to the highway on Thursday afternoon, demanding justice over the murder of the student.

“They blocked the road for two hours before dispersing,” he said.