In the wake of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ousting on August 5, Bangladesh's law and order has reached a standstill with the interim government set to be headed by Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus. Amid the turmoil, students have come forward to maintain order and assist with traffic management across the country.

Since August 6, students have been seen controlling traffic and clearing debris from the streets – facilitating the resumption of regular vehicle movement. On August 7, the Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Force were deployed for traffic control, but students continued to play a crucial role alongside them.

Nur Mohammad Tusher, a student of class 9 at Maple Leaf International School was seen controlling the traffic along with other students at the capital's Khamarbari area. He said, "I came for traffic duty at around 12 PM. We are ensuring that everyone uses the bus stoppage for boarding the buses. People around us are cooperating very well."

Abu Talha Sarkar Adol, a student of class 10 at Tejgaon Govt High School was managing the traffic along with other students at the capital's Bijoy Sarani area. He said, "Yesterday, I did not know that students were working for traffic management. As I learned about it, I came at 8 AM in the morning. As we cannot take actions of law into our hands, we made those people wait in line for about 10 minutes for not having helmets or proper documents." 

Photo: Orchid Chakma

Mentioning that they have their pre-test exam tomorrow, Adol added that they are planning to boycott the examination as the justice of the fallen students have not yet been served.

The deployment of Ansar members still has some technical issues and are short in numbers as well. Sajid, a student of Daffodil Institute of IT (DIIT) said, "Ansar members are working alongside us however, they cannot issue a case on the streets. They are also low in numbers so the help of the students is a must. As we or the Ansar members cannot issue any cases, some drivers have been very rude to us. While others are supporting us by providing food and water."

Photo: Orchid Chakma

Tamjid Sami, a student of Dhaka Residential Model College (DRMC) was seen working on traffic management at Gonobhaban area. He said, "While most of the drivers are very cooperative, many others are not. Some people are thinking that in this independent country they can move however they want. They are being irresponsible – having no helmets or license."