A grand rally of Islamic scholars at Suhrawardy Udyan aimed at countering a Tabligh Jamaat split has caused extreme traffic disruptions across Dhaka.
Although the conference was scheduled to begin at 9am on Tuesday (November 5), crowds of thousands began gathering from the previous night. As a result, traffic has ground to a halt in many areas, with schoolchildren, college students, and office-goers facing significant delays.
While the event was initially confined to Suhrawardy Udyan, the crowd overflowed into Ramna Park, the Dhaka University campus, the National Press Club, and Shahbagh.
Roads from Shahbagh to Matsya Bhaban, Kakrail, Press Club, and Shiksha Bhaban are now impassable, leading to traffic snarls across surrounding areas such as Science Lab, Mirpur Road, Chankharpul, Paltan, Moghbazar, Tejgaon, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Panthapath, and Bijoy Sarani.
On Google Maps, every street in downtown Dhaka appeared dark red, indicating severe traffic congestion.
Frustrated by the standstill, many commuters opted to get off buses and walk to their destinations.
One such commuter, Saidul Islam, boarded a bus from Banani at 9:00am but found himself stuck near Nabisco in Tejgaon. After an hour of slow progress, the bus had only reached Moghbazar level crossing, so he decided to walk the rest of the way to Paltan. "Most of the passengers got off due to the jam. I couldn't bear it anymore," Saidul said, adding that those traveling with families were facing the worst hardships.
The congestion also increased passenger demand on the metro rail, which saw heavier-than-usual crowds. Thousands of madrasa students and teachers attending the conference packed metro stations, especially between Dhaka University Station, Motijheel, and Uttara. Regular metro commuters struggled with the influx, leading to overcrowding across most stations.
At 10:00am, Hasan Ali left Manik Mia Avenue for Shahbagh but found buses too packed to board. Frustrated by the standstill, many passengers abandoned their vehicles and chose to walk to their destinations.
Rajib, who commutes from Malibagh, told Jago News that traffic stretched nearly a kilometer from Malibagh to Kakrail, even clogging the flyover. He observed passengers walking from Bailey Road and Shanti Nagar intersections due to the severe congestion.
Lines of buses parked along the road from Karwan Bazar to Banglamotor, causing massive gridlock. Key areas like Azimpur, Science Lab, New Market, Nilkhet, and Matsya Bhaban are also heavily jammed, with traffic worsening throughout the city as the day progressed.
Kamrul Islam, a Dhaka University law student, described how he had to switch to the metro rail due to the traffic.
“The roads are paralysed because of the grand rally, so many have taken to the metro. I even noticed some attendees using the metro as a novelty,” he remarked, noting that nearly every metro station was overwhelmed by crowds.
Police have set up barricades to redirect traffic from Nilkhet, Shahbagh, the Secretariat, Dhaka Medical, and High Court areas, advising drivers to use alternative routes.