Editorial
Blockade took a serious turn
Targeting railway menacing
THE opposition BNP-led alliance seems to have singled out the railway as the main target of attack in their blockade programme. Since Monday morning that they started the blockades, long stretches of rail tracks have been pulled out, fishplates removed, train tracks and coaches torched in different districts disrupting train service and putting travellers at great risk.
It's not conceivable why the opposition has gone for increasing public suffering by extending their blockade by another 23 hours until this morning.
Day by day, the opposition's strange hostility towards the railway is taking menacing proportions. The unbridled vandalism unleashed on the railway and other communication systems in the name of blockade is fast going into the hands of hooligans and terrorists who thrive on violence. Anytime a big railway accident can take place risking hundreds of lives. Will the opposition take responsibility for such an eventuality?
The government cannot get away with just blaming it all on the opposition. First of all, it will have to strike at the root of the problem by engaging the opposition in a dialogue to sort out their differences and persuade the latter to withdraw their blockades and other programmes hazardous to public life.
The government must also be able to deal with the trouble-makers with an iron hand to protect the railway and ensure security of the lives and properties of travellers. But the security of thousands of kilometres of railway cannot also be left to policing alone. The people living in the areas through which the railway passes have to be made aware and mobilised to protect the national asset.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments