Editorial
Why the continuing hartal?
It is proving counter-productive
The Awami League and its allies had called a 60-hour non-stop hartal across the country following the brutal killing of SAMS Kibria, and four other persons, at Habiganj. There was an intermission of two days before another dawn-to-dusk hartal was enforced yesterday. As if that was not enough, there would be two more days of continuing shutdown beginning tomorrow. The hartal fatigue is too obvious and it has been extremely unsettling whichever way one looks at it.The public outrage over the dastardly murder of SAMS Kibria along with some AL men and the lethal grenade attack of August 21 on AL rally that killed Ivy Rahman, among others, were fully expressed and the public demand for identification and expeditious punishment of the culprits have been forcefully voiced. So, continuation of hartal can only baffle the general people now. Just as clearly and unambiguously we condemned the dastardly killing of SAMS Kibria, so also we urge the opposition to take stock of the situation anew and reconsider the hartal call for the remaining two days at the very least. We will always condemn such political crimes, but the opposition has to show sensitivity to public weal by eschewing the hartal option. By appealing to the parties to discontinue the hartal, we are not in any way lessening or undermining the gravity of the tragedy that struck us. What we mean to say is that by responding to our call the opposition is likely to win far greater public support than by resorting to any course of action that ran counter to collective interests. The emotional outpourings had their origin in the irrefutable truth that the country had witnessed a crime of unbelievable magnitude. It was a lethal blow to our democratic culture. But the question is, what purpose these continual hartals will serve? Trade and commerce have to bear the brunt of it all, and people in general suffer. We lend our voice to the concern expressed by the trade bodies over hartal and political confrontation hindering economic growth. Let's urge the opposition to discontinue hartal keeping in view the interests of the country and the people.
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