Bottle Jahangir is desperate to install hawkers at Savar bus stand: Facebook post calls for movement

The local political arena in Savar has once again become heated over the hawker issue. A post by Savar Municipality BNP's Co-General Secretary Md. Jahangir Alam, who is known as 'Bottle Jahangir' in the area, on his personal Facebook ID has sparked widespread discussion and criticism. However, civil society believes that his post directly shows the thumbs-up to local MP Dr. Dewan Mohammad Salauddin Babu's promise to free Savar from hawkers.

In the Facebook post, Jahangir Alam claims himself as the voice of the common people and says that he does politics to speak for the common people and achieve their rights. At the same time, he complains that leaders use the common people but do not stand by them. In the post, he refers to hawkers as part of Bangladesh's heritage and advocates for their presence, albeit in a limited capacity, and calls for a movement on the Dhaka-Aricha highway on April 2.

However, locals are seeing his statement differently. They claim that through this post, local MP Dr. Dewan Mohammad Salauddin Babu's election promise to make Savar hawker-free has been openly challenged.

It is known that after the election, the administration's campaign to evict hawkers from the Savar bus stand area at the end of the month of Ramadan. Later, some relaxation was shown on the occasion of Eid for humanitarian reasons, but the area was kept hawker-free again after Eid. In this situation, questions have been raised about his motives as he called for a new movement.

A section of local residents allege that Jahangir Alam is involved in sidewalk-based extortion. According to them, since the Savar bus stand area was hawker-free, one of his sources of income has been cut off. As a result, he is trying to restore that influence by installing hawkers again.

Meanwhile, BNP central and local leaders have always claimed that no party leader or activist is involved in sidewalk extortion. But the actions of Jahangir Alam, who is known to be close to Savar Municipality's potential mayoral candidate Obaidur Rahman Abhi, have created a new controversy.

Local political analysts believe that such provocative statements and calls for movement in a calm environment can destabilize the law and order situation in Savar. As a result, the administration and political circles are now closely monitoring the issue.

No official statement has been received from the administration on this matter yet. However, everyone is watching where the situation goes.