Home Affairs Adviser Lieutenant General (Retd.) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said that since the interim government assumed office, 123 organizations have staged 1,604 blockades on roads in Dhaka and its surrounding areas over the past 13 months.

He made the remarks while briefing reporters at the Secretariat on Sunday (31 August) after a meeting of the Core Committee on Law and Order.

The adviser said, “Since we took office, there have been 1,604 blockades on roads in Dhaka and its surrounding areas, carried out by 123 organizations. Through you (journalists), I would like to request them not to block streets, as this causes immense public suffering. Traffic congestion is largely created this way—if even one corner of a road is blocked, the entire city of Dhaka gets affected. I would urge everyone to hold such programmes in designated places, such as open fields or Suhrawardy Udyan, where public suffering will be minimal.”

When asked whether the government would designate a specific protest site, he replied, “Why should we designate it? We have already said this. They are not even seeking permission from us. If they came to us for permission, we would decide. They also don’t want the public to suffer. Everyone has the right to protest, but it should not cause public suffering.”

The interim government took office on August 8 last year. It has now been in power for 13 months.