Editorial
Hartal violence
Increasing intensity worrying
WE are sorry to note the disturbing drift towards violence during hartal which is assuming ominous proportions. Over the last several days, during which we saw the country suffer the severe consequences of general strikes for 48 hours and 30 hours consecutively called by opposition parties, much of the disorder could have been avoided, if only the situations could be handled more judiciously.
It was alarming to see in some places pro-hartal elements armed with sticks intimidating the public. And equally upsetting was the picture of armed anti-hartal elements under the cover of the police going after their rivals. The spectacle of the capital and other main towns being besieged by the law enforcing agencies and not by the picketers has drawn the attention of many observers.
What is equally disconcerting is the attempt to preempt the pro-hartal groups by the police which managed to create more commotion than solve. We repeat, hartal is counterproductive and, in the context of today's politics, an anachronistic idea. Hartal hurts nobody but us. Yet hartal has not been proscribed by law. And we also ask now, as we have done in the past, whether or not the use of force by the police was markedly disproportionate to the need.
While we appreciate the concern of the administration for public safety, what is quite incomprehensible is the manner of ensuring it. What is alarming too is the way some people were barricaded inside the premise of a building or party office and the intrusion of the police inside buildings chasing after some pro-hartal elements and subjecting them to merciless beatings, when apparently all that they were doing was chanting slogans in favour of hartal. It would not be wrong to suggest that in many cases it was the police action, quite unprovoked, that compounded the situation. There were injuries on both sides, which unfortunate as they were, should have been avoided.
The essence of maintaining law and order is for them to understand the importance of holding back rather than taking precipitate action and creating desperate situations.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments