View From the Protests: Dhaka Should Go Car-Free

For nearly two weeks in Dhaka, movement around the city—which is always difficult because of the intense traffic congestion—has ground to a halt for other reasons. On July 29, a bus driver slammed into a group of school children, killing two and sending several others to the hospital. Immediately after the incident, students poured out of the schools and into the streets to protest.

For a while, normal activities ceased; no one could get to our building in the Rayer Bazaar neighborhood of Dhaka. In our immediate area it was quiet but at first I was told not to go out. We have had to cancel several programs because we were too close to protests for people to reach us. Students were stopping private vehicles and demanding that drivers take stranded travelers to their destinations. On the one occasion I did have to cross town, I arrived in record time as there were no buses and vastly fewer cars than usual on the streets, but there was also fear because of occasional outbreaks of violence. There have been reports of rubber bullets being fired and injured protesters being hospitalized.