Anything but democratic, Mr. Jalil

Even if one accepted Mr. Jalil's view on hartal for the sake of argument, that hartal allows the opposition to express dissent, there are elements in this concept that make hartal the anti-thesis of what democracy stands for. Here is why. Hartal encompasses just not politics. It brings into its purview the total stoppage of all public activities, including economic that a developing country like ours can afford only at suicidal costs. Even schools and colleges are not exempt that, if you explain to foreigners, will only bring from them an expression suggesting madness. Finally, even if one overlooked the suicidal and insanity aspects of hartal and agreed with Mr. Jalil, there is one aspect of hartal that should leave no doubt in the mind of anyone with sense that hartal can be anything but democratic. This is the implementation part of hartal. Parties calling hartal do not just call upon the people to participate in hartal. They ensure that people listen to them and to do that, they use threat and coercion. How on earth can such a strategy be anything but unadulterated fascism at its worst?

Here is a test for Mr. Jalil and supporters of hartal to prove whether it is democratic or not. If you believe hartal is a democratic right of dissent, then please give a call for hartal but also give the people the right to be with you or not and then see what the people of Bangladesh think of hartal. Democracy is after all the freedom to choose while fascism is the absence of such freedom.