Reception to PM

We hail the prime minister for winning the UN "Planet 50-50 Champion" and the "Agent of Change" awards for her resolute and visionary statesmanship. We also congratulate the PM for being praised as a champion of women's rights and empowerment in South Asia at the 5th Global Fund Replenishment Conference in Montreal. And it is natural that people would celebrate at a moment like this, but why should the celebration come at such high cost of public suffering? 

Unfortunately, that was the case in Dhaka on Friday when the city came to a virtual standstill as leaders and workers of the AL and its allies blocked various arterial roads to organise a grand reception for the PM who returned home that day after a two-week visit to Canada and the US. Thousands of commuters -- among them children, elderly and patients -- were left stranded on the road for hours in the blistering heat and the suffocating humidity. To make matters even worse, the festivity coincided with the admission tests at Dhaka University, Jagannath University and the 37th BCS preliminary exams. 

This is not the first time that the residents of the capital have had to suffer such inconveniences. Can this be a norm in a society governed by law? Does any party have the legal authority to block public thoroughfares by making roads off limits to commuters? What is the role of the police? The policymakers should be conscious of the degree to which such activities are loathed by people. We seek the intervention of the Prime Minster to put a stop to this culture of celebrating at the expense of public suffering.