Pay for hartals!
In 2003 as well as this year, the American Embassy in Dhaka has distributed desk calendars which are not only very handy but contain a wealth of advice in the form of a quotation a day from a distinguished personality in both Bangla and English. The quotations are a very admirable mixture of sane advice, humorous witticisms and sarcastic comments on the follies of man, especially politicians and bureaucrats.
In the light of Saturday's meaningless hartal which only magnifies the intellectual bankruptcy of the people who called it, I recalled the quotation of the great humorist, Will Rogers which appears on the 27 December 2003 page of the desk calendar : " I have a scheme for stopping war. It's this--no nation is allowed to enter a war till they have paid for the last one" Will Rogers.
I wish there was some way to enforce this on the hartal calling parties. Pay for all the damage caused in the last hartal before calling a new one that is if they have any sense of moral responsibility.
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