Phulbari (Dinajpur) Correspondent

Sammilit Nagorik Samaj organized an hour-long human chain program and submitted a memorandum to the Electricity and Energy Advisor in protest against the installation of prepaid electricity meters in Phulbari, Dinajpur on Tuesday.

When NESCO started the installation of prepaid electricity meters, adverse reactions began among local electricity customers. As part of this, human chains, protest marches and memorandums were submitted demanding the cancellation of the decision to install prepaid meters and the removal of the installed meters.

At 11 am, agitating electricity customers formed an hour-long human chain with banner festoons at Nimtola intersection in the city under the banner of Sammilit Nagorik Samaj. The protest rally was presided over by Sammilit Nagorik Samaj convener and labor leader Md. Hamidul Haque, branch general secretary SM Nuruzzaman Zaman.

Former student leader Mottalib Pappur moderated the speech, and the vice-president of the municipal BNP, Momtaz, the Ameer of the municipal Jamaat, Dr. Zakaria Hossain, the advisor of the Sammilit Nagorik Samaj and the president of the municipal BNP, Alhaj Md. Abul Bashar, the member secretary of the Sammilit Nagorik Samaj, Suruj Ali, the member secretary of the Sammilit Nagorik Samaj, the anti-discrimination student leader, Zakir Ahmed, the coordinator of the Fulbari branch of the National Ganofront, Kamal Chakraborty, the convener of the National Committee for the Protection of Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources and Power Ports, Syed Saiful Islam Jewel, the editor of the weekly Fulbari Barta, Tajmilur Rahman Nayan, and others.

The speakers said that although the previous dictatorial government fled the country, they left their appointed friends in this country to implement their public suffering projects. The modern machine of suffering, prepaid meters, will not be allowed to be installed in any way. The people of Fulbari do not want this, they will not allow this to happen. Even then, if NESCO wants to forcefully impose it, people from all walks of life in Phulbari will resist it with a strong hand. They also said that the people of Phulbari know how to protest. As they did in 2006 against the multinational company Asia Energy.

After the human chain, the protesters gathered at the Upazila Parishad with a protest procession. There, Upazila Executive Officer Mir Md. Al Kamah Tamal submitted a memorandum to the Electricity and Energy Advisor demanding the cancellation of the Awami government's prepaid meter project.