To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: akbar_50@hotmail.com
Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2010 03:27:28 +0000
Subject: [ALOCHONA] The vicious culture of Hartal.
Hartal or a general strike is a unique political tool in the Indian subcontinent. The Bengali hartal is synonymous for the Hindi word Bandh. During the British colonial rule Mahatma Gandhi used Satyagraha to protest against the British rule. No established administration wants to face a general strike but this infamous and feared tool is very conveniently used by every political party whenever they are in the opposition. To any civilized citizen hartal is an ugly force which unleashes the unruly to disrupt normal life and destroys property and sometimes life too. On the day of hartal every effort is made by the organizers to destabilize administration by destroying public and private property which causes colossal loses to the national economy. The ruling Awami League knows very well the powers of a hartal, its political and economic consequences. During the past Awami League administration we even saw a general strike called by the government itself.
But this general strike called by the opposition BNP is to protest Begum Zia's expulsion from a government residence, not to protest against any specific government policy. A personal matter has turned into a national political crisis for BNP. To the general public a hartal is always an unwelcome event. The common man does not gain anything from it other than misery and total discomfort. The most worrying part of the Bangladeshi politics is its rudderless direction. There is no common ground where the major political parties see eye to eye. They conduct politics to grab power and everything else is secondary.
The time has come for the political parties in Bangladesh to realize that if politics is not conducted with civility the ideals of democracy will continue to suffer. During the Pakistani misrule we resorted to strikes to bring a vital point home; Leave us alone. Now this vicious culture must be trashed once for all. To sort out issues the political parties must seat and talk in the spirit of democracy. The Bengali nation fought for a sovereign disciplined government of their own not anarchy. The politicians must know what helps the nation and what jeopardizes its future.
Akbar Hussain
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