Editorial
Curb the 'cocktail' culture
Society will suffer otherwise
We have watched with disquiet the increasing use of crude bombs, particularly during hartal. This has caused serious injury and death to innocent people, many of them children who unsuspectingly handle live cocktail with knowing it to be so. We condemn the use of all crude-explosive devices. These bombs, commonly known as 'cocktails,' are being produced, reportedly, by some 50 groups and costing anywhere between Tk.500-Tk.1000 in and around Dhaka.
During the recent 60 hour long shutdown, over a 1000 such crude bombs were used by the BNP and its ally, the Jamaat. Such devices were also used to attack the residence of both government functionaries and members of the opposition. Regrettably, this has become a part of our political culture and we are failing to stop its production and use.
The raw materials are easily available (empty cans and bottles, gunpowder, gasoline, pebble and metal-pieces). The need of the hour is to restrict accessibility, gathering, purchase and systematic monitoring of the raw materials. It appears that they are being produced in large scale given that less than a month ago explosions of a few hundred crude bombs inside a flat in Dhaka damaged a 6-storied building.
We hope the political parties would comprehend the severe impact of manufacture and random use of such devices on the society. Even if we were to see a resolution of political differences, the manufacturers will continue its manufacture and there will be those, disposed to violence, who will find use for it. That is what worries us.
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