Celebrations and public misery

It is all very well that Bangladesh Chhatra League celebrated its 68th founding anniversary; we congratulate them on their glorious past though their current activities leave much to be desired. But that is a matter that can be discussed some other time. The purpose of this editorial is to highlight the unmitigated suffering the public had to go through on the streets because of the BCL celebrations.

BCL's decision to hold processions and parades on major thoroughfares, causing severe traffic clogging for several hours on January 4, was irresponsible and showed utter disregard for the public.  Thousands of ordinary citizens were caught in a suffocating gridlock. This included patients who could not get to the hospital. What is even more outrageous is that truckloads and motorbikes carrying BCL revelers were seen going on the wrong side of the road with no objection from the police on duty. So who looks after public interest?

It is a given that political parties will carry out their programmes to commemorate events. But does this mean every time they want to celebrate something they will inflict such suffering on the public? The DMP had announced that blocking of roads for political programmes on 5th January would not be allowed. That is exactly the way it should be. So why this was not applicable to the BCL parades and processions is quite telling.

In the future the government must have a clear, enforceable policy that categorically disallows the occupation of public spaces, main thoroughfares in particular, by any political party. All parties, regardless of whether they are in government or opposition, must be obligated to abide by the rules to avoid such intolerable misery that people have suffered because of political programmes on the streets.