The mass arrest conducted by the police created some panic among the city dwellers and at one stage the home ministry ordered police to stop it.

While as a Dhaka dweller I am an indirect sufferer of the mass arrests, the question that comes to my mind is, could the government handle it better? The following thoughts came to my mind.

1. The government could let the Awami League and its supporting NGOs to pour millions into the capital. It would probably brighten the image of the government. However, if one million militant activists of the Awami League and the supporting NGOs were allowed to enter Dhaka and carry out what the Awami League activists normally do on hartal days, the ordinary citizens would have been in great trouble.

2. The government could let the Awami League and its supporting NGOs to pour millions into the capital and also gather the supporters of the four-party alliance in Dhaka to tackle the opposition. It would start a hand-to-hand fighting on the streets and the country would experience a situation no better than a civil war.

I could not find any other way of avoiding the Dhaka siege I think the readers will agree with me that none of the above solutions could be acceptable to the government. I cannot but thank the government and the State Minister for Home Affairs for successfully tackling the situation and saving the country from further anarchy. Failure of the BNP government during 1991-1996 to tackle the opposition anarchy not only hampered the economic growth of the country, it caused enormous sufferings to the common men who were frequently harassed by the opposition pickets. However, I think the government should have provided better accommodation to the detainees. The government may consider introducing the much talked about identity card system for the Dhaka dwellers . We are not living in a jungle and a citizen has the right to have an identity card.