Stuck B’deshis scramble to return home as buses and flights resume services

Kolkata: Bangladeshis stranded in the city made a beeline for offices of transport services in Marquis Street and Sudder Street after they learnt from relatives back home that the situation had improved significantly in the past 24 hours. With buses and flights resuming regular services, their offices saw hectic business as a steady stream of Bangladeshi nationals purchased tickets on Wednesday.A section of Bangladeshis felt that the Sk Hasina govt will not allow law and order to deteriorate again but given the unprecedented violence that the country has witnessed in the past week, there is a sense of uncertainty lurking in people’s minds. TOI visited the Mini Bangladesh in Kolkata on Wednesday and noticed a flurry of activity as Bangladeshis were back on the streets and expressed palpable relief over the improvement in the situation in the country.Tanvir Hossain, who had mostly stayed holed up in his hotel room over the last few days, was visibly relieved on Wednesday after being able to speak to his family after a week. “Hearing my children’s voices was so heartening. The longing to return became so intense that I stepped out and booked a flight ticket,” said Hossain, who had come to Kolkata with his niece for treatment and got stranded.Traders in New Market heaved a sigh of relief as well. “The arson was 300 km away but we were feeling the heat as Bangladeshis had stopped coming to the market. Hopefully, the situation will continue to improve,” said SS Hogg Market Traders Association general secretary Uday Shaoo. Md Hazmatullah, a kidney patient from Hasnabad in south Dhaka who came to Kolkata with friends Arman Patan and Md Jamal of Mohammadpur, also plans to return before the weekend. “The Dhaka we will go back to is not the same city we had left just over a week ago. There have been so many killings, it will take a long time for the scars to heal. But we hope the govt will handle protests better,” said Hamlatullah.Writer Shabir Ahmad from Dhaka’s Mirpur isn’t so confident as he believes the opposition has tasted blood. “I am anxious to return home before the situation flares up again and I strongly suspect it will,” said Ahmad, who managed to book one of the last seats available in a direct Kolkata-Dhaka bus departing on Thursday.“We are operating two buses daily and they have been going full,” said Ali Haider of Shyamoli Yatri Paribahan.
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