Editorial
Hartal's diminishing returns
High time to think of alternatives
THE opposition BNP-enforced four-day hartal that left in its wake a trail of deaths, destruction and untold public sufferings ended yesterday. What political gains it could actually make out of the ordeal of four violence-ridden days, it should take stock of before deciding on its next course of agitation programme.
Not surprisingly, it should be able to find out that the political mileage that the opposition could so far get out of the misrule of the incumbent, has in large measure been depleted by its hartal programmes. Considering the bad press the last hartal has received, especially the horrific reports of arson attack and cocktail blast victims, may have eroded its popularity base significantly.
We believe, it won't be long before the opposition leaders came to realise the folly as well as the political cost of their hartal-based political programmes.
At this point, one may recall the desperate bid of the BNP to deny party activists' involvement in the torching of the covered van that caused the death of the young boy Monir and the burning of nine others in a transport at Matuail. The party leaders should now be in a better position to realise the danger that lies in the uncontrolled use of such a questionable political method.
BNP can be credited with having resorted to hartals rather sparingly compared to its political rival Awami League, when the latter was in opposition. Sad to say, BNP is now not living up to people's expectations in rooting for an alternative to hartal.
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