Of hartals and unending disputes
A glimpse into the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH)
With the ongoing blockade called by Begum Khaleda Zia, leader of opposition party BNP, running into mid-March it seems that the country doesn’t seem to find a respite from the crippling effect of hartals and oborodhs (a convenient word meaning blockade without any specification of how, when and where). Khaleda Zia called for indefinite nationwide blockades on January 5th, bringing the whole country into turmoil and causing cases of sporadic violence in every corner of Bangladesh during this time.
During these days of blockades, it has been estimated that at least 83 individuals lost their lives, of which 53 individuals were killed in arson attacks. In addition to this, it has been estimated that a total of 41 people were killed in shootouts since January 6th, bringing the total death toll to over 100 people. However, the most unfortunate statistic amidst all this has to be out of all these individuals who lost their lives during this short time, 66 were innocent citizens with no direct affiliation to political parties or law enforcement. This is a shocking and regrettable figure, reflecting the great loss to the general public created by such political conflicts. There are numerous stories of incredulous losses faced by innocent families as well as the lone major burn unit of the country at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) teeming with burn victims in saddening states.
A great deal of international pressure has been put on both of the major political parties to bring an end to the ongoing crisis. The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon in letters to both Begum Khaleda Zia and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, condemned and expressed concern at the current political situation crippling the nation and urged both the country’s leaders to take firm measures to de-escalate the violence sweeping the nation as well as engaging in dialogue. On the other hand, various different countries have expressed their concern about the same issues, including the United Kingdon (UK), United States (US) and the European Union (EU).
The library of the House of Commons in the UK has published a research report written by Jon Lunn on the 21st of January, 2015 on hindsight still early days in this non-stop political impasse. Jon Lunn, in this report goes on to say, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been accused of playing fast and loose with democracy. But the sincerity of Khaleda Zia’s commitment to democracy is also being questioned. Some wonder whether she may actually be hoping that her current strategy forces the army to intervene once again and oust the AL government. As yet, there is no sign of this happening. Perhaps understandably, given just how treacherous the waters are, Western donors have held back from imposing sanctions of any kind.” The preceding statement clearly reflects the great damage this enduring impasse is bringing to Bangladesh both at home and abroad.
At the end of the day, it has to be mentioned that this current conflict and all these occurrences have the argument of the legitimacy of the current government at its heart. However, the immediate origin of the current conflict was the decision by the government to barricade the BNP party leader, Begum Khaleda Zia, in her Gulshan party office on 3 January and the subsequent police refusal to allow the party to hold a public meeting in Dhaka. Although both the Awami League and BNP have a history of discord to say the least; this sort of continued fracas and conflict highlights a new chapter in the colossal rivalry between the two parties. More often than not, it is not the high-ups in politics or society that suffer in Bangladesh as a result of this dispute, but it is the common people who struggle and suffer.
Economic struggles
Since the start of the current strikes or hartals, there have been huge economic losses felt by all the different economic sectors and industries in the country. From modest farmers to large multinationals, the ongoing blockades have caused headache to almost everyone in the economic chain. With blockades affecting road, rail and waterways, the supply chains in production and distribution have been hampered indefinitely. In addition, the transport and logistics companies have had additional headaches to their already dwindling profit margins during this time as over 650 vehicles have been vandalised or torched since the 6th of January.
The country’s top business chambers report an estimated loss of over Tk. 2,227 crore per day during the ongoing crisis. This brings the sum up to an estimated Tk. 1, 40,301 crore from 6th January till 8th March, 2015, which is a huge figure considering that Bangladesh’s economy grows at about an average of 6 percent year on year. This is already an important time in terms of the economy of Bangladesh as it continues to rally in its manufacturing sectors. With the ongoing blockades bringing about logistical nightmares for both imports and exports, it is a massive hit to the expanding economy of the country.
Educational Struggles
One part of the populace of Bangladesh who are really struggling with the hartals are the education sector. With students of different educational institutions, starting from schools, SSC & O Level students to colleges and universities struggling to make it to examinations and general classes, it has really been a headache to teachers, students, parents and educational bodies to proceed with their normal schedules. Although the British Council and Edexcel didn’t change their O and A Level examination schedules making it a nightmare for students to reach examinations, the opposite was experienced by the national school board of Bangladesh, as it changed the S.S.C examination schedules to weekends (on days of no hartal), with many experts commenting that although spreading out the exams kept safety of students at the forefront, but at the same time put students through the prolonged stress and tensions of the culmination of their school lives. With education becoming more and more competitive each year, these delays shall surely have some adverse reaction. The same can be said for university classes in both the private and public sector, with classes being suspended and valuable time being lost for these students who just want to join the workforce or move onto further education as soon as possible.
It has to be stressed that hopefully the political parties in the country can bring out an end to this massive issue that is troubling the country on so many levels; that they can participate in dialogue and bring an end to this inhumane violence and political impasse. After all, without such initiatives this promising country shall have no way to continue to move forward and reach the levels, that lakhs of individuals sacrificed their lives since 1971 dreamt of reaching.
By Mishel Ali Khan
Short URL: https://reportsbd.com/?p=306
Posted by Reportsbd
on Mar 9 2015. Filed under Home Slide, National.
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