A sit-in strike program was held in Kulaura on Saturday morning, September 27, to implement the ongoing eight-point demands of train passengers from greater Sylhet.
Hundreds of people from different walks of life in the upazila participated in the strike program from 11 am to 12:30 pm at the junction station platform under the banner of the 8-point demand implementation movement, Kulaura. Meanwhile, the angry protesters blocked the Chittagong-bound Paharika Express train departing from Sylhet for about half an hour.
Upon receiving news of the train being seized, upazila administration, police administration, army and railway officials reached the spot and spoke to the protesters. At one stage, the protesters spoke to the Railway Divisional Manager (DRM) Mohammad Mohiuddin Arif on the mobile phone through Upazila Executive Officer Md. Mohiuddin. Upazila Executive Officer Md. Mohiuddin, Kulaura Police Station OC Md. Omar Faruk, Railway Police Station OC Jahangir Hossain, Station Master Roman Ahmed and others were present at the time.
At that time, former MP Nawab Ali Abbas Khan and Atiqur Rahman Akhai, the coordinator of the movement, informed senior railway official Mohammad Mohiuddin Arif about the 8-point demand. During a phone conversation, the railway official assured that the demands would be accepted within the next 15 days. The protesters then withdrew the strike, considering the public suffering. Later, train services returned to normal.
During the strike program, speakers raised eight immediate demands and strongly demanded that the higher authorities of the railway accept them.
The demands are, two new trains to be launched on the Sylhet-Dhaka and Sylhet-Cox's Bazar railway lines, the railway line of the Sylhet-Akhaura section to be renovated and upgraded to dual gauge, the Sylhet-Akhaura local train to be launched, the closed railway stations in the Sylhet region to be opened,
Increasing ticket allocation at Kulaura station and banning black marketing, stopping the stoppage of the intercity Kalni and Parabat Express from Sylhet to Dhaka after Azampur station, adding new engines to all trains and adding additional coaches in proportion to the number of passengers.