EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

 

Violence during hartal

Vandalism cannot be condoned

The day-long hartal called by the Islamic Ain Bastabayan Sangstha on Monday has left the nation with much to worry about. In contrast with some other hartals we have witnessed in recent times, this one was certainly remarkable for the severe degree of violence its supporters resorted to all over the country. While one does agree that a hartal is a democratic right and that too of the last resort, one also feels that a hartal can never be made an excuse for vandalism or anything that might lead to a state of fear among citizens. On Monday, however, picketing by the hartal supporters swiftly degenerated into violence that left no fewer than 120 buses damaged and more than 250 people, including law enforcers, injured.

The angry way in which the hartal supporters came down on people trying to go about their normal business of the day greatly inconvenienced citizens. All hartals, unless they are called in the larger interests of the nation, are a way of putting up obstacles to normal life and movement in the country. On Monday, a perceptible level of fanaticism was at work among those enforcing the hartal. Rickshaw pullers had the air let out of the tyres of their vehicles and policemen were subjected, incredibly, to physical assaults in the form of kicks. Moreover, some hartal supporters were observed carrying copies of the Holy Quran as they marched through the streets. That was a deliberate bit of provocation since it was for the first time that the holy book was made an ingredient of picketing. It was a sinister move, seeing that the aim of the pickets was to get into a clash with the law enforcers, something that could have led to a desecration of the Quran. We condemn such motives.

Now that the hartal is behind us, we urge those who enforced it to make their points of view on the issue agitating their minds known through peaceful means. We have said earlier that the proposed national policy on women contains nothing that can remotely be construed as un-Islamic. Even if the detractors of the policy think they have an issue, they can very well respond to the government offer of sitting down to a discussion of it. But those who use religion to propagate their thoughts and those who support them are clearly pushing the nation down a dangerous path. It is time for all citizens of Bangladesh, because they believe in democracy, to come together and resist those who whip up unnecessary controversy in the name of religion.

Aila victims still in lurch

Somebody must be held to account 

It's a shame that we have to deal with the fall out of cyclone Aila which hit the southwestern part of the country in May 2009. The crack it created in the embankment has still to be repaired.

The saline water is rushing through the crack during high tide swamping 5000 acres of land in Betkashi union in Koira, Khulna. Over the last two years the crack have developed further threatening the whole region. People of the area have been living on embankments and on platforms made of bamboos ever since the cyclone struck, making lives miserable and unsure.

Hundreds of men, women and children are now passing their days in hunger and want of drinking water. As the monsoon nears people remain apprehensive of the dangers ahead. The days of cyclone and tidal surge are here, and there's no protection to save lives and property. As it is, the upcoming monsoon holds uncertain days pushing the entire region into a new kind of vulnerability.

The embankment which is a fifty year old structure topped off by a widening breach always needed repair on a priority basis. It is an indictment on the local administration and particularly on BWD board that even after two years no serious effort is in sight to complete the repair and ensure protection of the place and people.

According to the admission of a BWDB official, unless the embankment is re-designed it might not withstand another natural disaster. Has the BWDB moved the higher authorities on this point, or is it an excuse for their failure to repair the cracks for so long?

Quite clearly an intervention for a high level is required to move the juggernaut to ensure survival of these hapless people.