Harried passengers alight from the delayed Kanchankanya Express at Sealdah station in Calcutta on Thursday. Telegraph picture

Kishanganj, Oct. 13: The rail and road blockade by Kishanganj Education Movement was withdrawn at 12.30 last night, but the 15-hour blockade continued to affect train movement throughout north Bengal and Northeast even today.

Rail services on the Delhi-Guwahati section of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) and transport services on National Highway 31 resumed after the intervention by Purnea division commissioner Brajesh Mehrotra.

Trains like Darjeeling Mail and Padatik Express, which are supposed to depart from New Jalpaiguri at 8pm and 9pm respectively, left 11 hours behind their scheduled departure at 7am and 8am this morning, much to the inconvenience of passengers, several of whom missed their appointments with doctors and onwards trains from Calcutta to other parts of the country.

Around one lakh demonstrators, under the aegis of Kishanganj Education Movement led by Kishanganj Congress MP Maulana Asrarul Haque, yesterday demanding the setting up of an extended unit of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), had staged a “Maha dharna” in Kishanganj district yesterday, paralysing the entire road and rail communication system.

Haque told The Telegraph: “We concluded our ‘Maha dharna’ today when Purnea divisional commissioner Brajesh Mehrotra assured us that all formalities related to land transfer in favour of AMU would be conducted within a month. The state government has contiguous land of 365 acres from which it has to allot only 250 acres to AMU.”

Haque added: “We will go on a fast-unto-death and stage a bigger demonstration than yesterday’s after a month if the government fails to keep its commitment. However, there is a dire need for the special branch of AMU at Kishanganj, which is considered to be educationally most backward district in the country. The literacy rate in Kishanganj is only 31 per cent, while the national average is 74.04 per cent.”

MLA of Kochadhaman in Kishanganj Akhtarul Iman said: “The state government has cheated politicians many a time in the Assembly. If it avoids our proposal, it will deceive the people of the entire Purnea division. If Kishanganj is educationally backward, the sole responsibility lies with the state government.”