Editorial
Treatment of women opposition activists atrocious
We are disgusted at the lack of decency
Recently we have been witnessing a very disturbing trend of using highhanded measures against women activists of the opposition during hartal hours. Police again manhandled the women activists of Awami League led by former minister and frontline leader Motia Choudhury during the daylong strike on Saturday. Though it was not the first time that we saw such an outrageous way of stopping women activists from exercising their democratic rights -- beating them, tugging at their clothes, dragging them onto the nearby van -- what happened on that day was the height of indecency. In fact it crossed the border the civility. They are perhaps labouring under the notion that since women cops are handling women activists the former can take liberty with the latter. We simply ask the government -- is this the only way to handle or tackle some perceived disturbances? One should realise that expression of dissent does not necessarily mean defiance of law and order. The authorities will have to draw a line there. One thing is certain -- the police could not have done it on their own, they must have acted on a perception and tenor of thinking permeating from the top. And that makes us wonder what kind of deplorable thinking circulates in the hierarchy. It was another example of denying any space to the opposition. We can see with alarm that the tactics to handle hartals, pickets are becoming extremely violent day by day. Sit-in demonstrations, assembling to express dissent and taking out peaceful processions are some of the democratic rights that must be normally respected. The government has not banned them, so that it should feel obliged to ensure that the opposition gets the space they need to put across the points of view to the public.
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