Ban hartal

To Mr. (or Ms) SAM who tried to do the impossible (defend hartal) (Hartal: the flip side, DS, Feb. 25), I have a simple question, "As a result of the recent hartals, has the price of essentials come down or has law and order improved or any of the other issues espoused by the AL has seen a positive change?" The answer is a big NO. Hartal simply punishes the common people, it has virtually no effect on the running of the government. One cannot claim to be championing the cause of the people by preventing them from going about their daily business or burning vehicles. Another of your correspondents tried to justify hartal by stating that loan defaulters also cause huge loss to the economy, so why blame hartal alone? Are we to judge our politicians (can't call them leaders) by the moral standard of the loan sharks who essentially belong to the gutter?

Bangladesh has shown innovative skill in enacting and implementing the caretaker government concept. I believe it is within the capability of our constitutional experts to enact an enforceable law banning hartal by political parties while preserving the right of trade bodies to do so (the latter, for example, petroleum dealers simply refuse to provide their service to register their grievances, but do not force people or vehicles off the roads). Dr. Kamal Hossain is still around to lend his expertise. If the BNP will take the initiative to do this, they will at least bind their hands from future destructive role. The electorate will, I believe, thankfully remember that when it matters.