Hartal is a curse - full stop
It is not just a curse for our economy; it hampers the country in almost every
aspect. The situation has become such worse that whenever an opposing political
party calls a press conference or a rally, the mass people of the country prays
that they are not going to declare a hartal!
Let us look at the economic damage hartal causes… declaring a 12 hour hartal
basically means no four (or in some cases even three) wheeled vehicles will
move and all commercial and industrial centers will be closed down. Even though
it is supposed to be an option, those who keep their offices or stores open
usually face massive vandalizing by hartal enforcers. So the owners of these
establishments usually keep their businesses off during the hartal days.
Therefore the country suffers massive economic losses. A survey by Dhaka
Chamber of Commerce and Industry reveals that a daylong hartal causes the
nation 1,600 crore BDT. It also says that the GDP of Bangladesh is hampered
6.5% because of each nationwide hartal. Without such daylong shutdowns, the GDP
growth of Bangladesh could have been 9-10%.
The nation fears a number of casualties every time a hartal is declared. Many
protestors, police or even common pedestrians often die during the clashes that
occur in a hartal day. The exact amount of casualties during hartal days in the
last decade is unknown; but the number is quite high. Apart from this,
countless people are injured and numerous vehicles are torched during hartal
days.
This so called democratic right has been so abused in our country that it has
lost its proper meaning. Declaring a hartal in Bangladesh has become somewhat
of an open pass to cause terror all around the country. From school going
toddlers to corporate kingpins, everyone’s lives are hampered because of this
socio-economic poison. Foreign investors are retreating from our industries and
the overall productivity of the nation is dropping down alarmingly.
If Bangladesh wants to emerge as a developed nation, this curse known as
‘hartal’ needs to be removed as soon as possible.
Right
now, if we do a survey on what the most annoying and dreadful word for the
common people of Bangladesh is, the majority will probably say “hartal”. This
democratic right of extreme demonstration has become such a common occurrence
in our country that common people have become afraid of it.
