Railway workers in Chattogram staged a protest on Tuesday morning, surrounding the General Manager’s office at the CRB area, demanding the cancellation of a lease agreement for constructing an Inland Container Depot (ICD) on land that includes a railway graveyard, mosque, shrine, and emergency waterbody in Halishahar’s CGPY area.
Around 11 a.m., several hundred railway workers, their families, and local residents marched to the CRB area. However, Railway Security Forces and police barred them from entering the office premises. Defying the restriction, the protesters entered the building, chanting slogans such as “Cancel the lease,” and “Save the graveyard, mosque, and shrine.” As the situation grew tense, the security personnel locked the main gate of the General Manager’s office, headed by Md. Subaktageen.
The railway workers later held a demonstration and human chain outside the building.
Speakers at the rally alleged that the railway authorities committed forgery by altering the land classification of century-old graveyard, religious sites, and a waterbody in order to sign the lease with a private company. The graveyard reportedly contains around 450 graves. Despite knowing this, the authorities leased out the land surrounding the religious institutions.
They said that never before in the history of Bangladesh Railway had a project been taken by occupying religious sites and a graveyard—this time, the Railway Estate Department itself has violated the law.
Union leaders alleged, “There is a conspiracy underway to evict the mosque, shrine, and graveyard amid the ongoing movement. Although there are verbal directives from the Railway Secretary and Adviser to protect the religious sites, no written order has yet been issued—this is nothing but deception. If our justified demands are not met, we will call for a nationwide railway strike. The graveyard and mosque will not be allowed to be sold at any cost.”
Around 12 noon, the General Manager, Md. Subaktageen, invited the protesters for a discussion. A 10-member delegation led by Running Staff Union General Secretary Md. Mojibur Rahman and Jahangir Alam held a 30-minute closed-door meeting on the second floor of the GM’s office.
After the meeting, GM Subaktageen told reporters, “We are aware of the issue. The Director General and Secretary of the Railway have also been informed and have inspected the site. Your interests will be protected—the graveyard, mosque, and shrine will remain intact. A committee will visit the area tomorrow (Wednesday) for demarcation.”
Following this assurance, the workers suspended their protest and dispersed around 1 p.m.
Speakers at the rally included—Bangladesh Railway Nationalist Workers’ Party General Secretary M.R. Monju; Running Staff and Workers’ Union General Secretary Md. Mojibur Rahman; Railway Technical Council General Secretary S.K. Bari; CGPY All-Party Struggle Committee Convener Hossain Shahid; Member Secretary Md. Jahangir Alam; and Railway Employees League Office Secretary Md. Asaduzzaman Shishir.
According to the lease agreement, 21.29 acres of railway land in Halishahar were leased commercially to CCBL for establishing a container terminal. Later, CCBL signed a deal with the private company Saif Powertec for project implementation.
Railway workers alleged that although there is plenty of vacant railway land in the project area, the ICD is being constructed adjacent to the graveyard and mosque.
The 21.29-acre project site includes land recorded as canal, mosque, homestead, pond, agricultural land, graveyard, and road. However, the agreement notes that the classification of some of these lands has been partly or fully changed.
According to the contract, BS Plot No. 15054—recorded as “Mosque” (0.3425 acres), plot No. 15059—recorded as agricultural land but currently shown as graveyard (0.6250 acres) and plot No. 15060 recorded as graveyard. but currently shown as canal (5.4850 acres)..
However, district administration records shows, a different story. The BS record of the district office shows that only Plot No. 15059 is registered as “Graveyard” (5.4850 acres), while Plot No. 15060 is classified as “Canal land” (0.6250 acres).
It was alleged that, to avoid legal barriers and public outrage over implementing a mega project on a graveyard, the Railway Estate Department fraudulently swapped the plot numbers and classifications in the contract documents.
Despite long-running protests demanding the protection of the religious institutions, railway officials have ignored them. Tensions escalated earlier in March when the house of the grave digger was demolished.
