Far from easing off, the events surrounding the students' quota protests which have taken the new name with broader connotation, 'anti-discrimination students' movement, have been getting more violent. The encounters of the demonstrating students with the law-enforcers and the pro-government elements are behind the mounting toll of deaths and injuries every day. The widening violence and uncertainties surrounding the street events have started to leave their impact on the kitchen market. It is not just that local grocers, vegetable or fish sellers of the mahallahs (neighbourhoods) in the city are taking undue advantage, as they usually do, of the prevailing situation to artificially drive up the prices of essential commodities. This time what is happening is different. Recently, according to reports, the queues are getting longer to buy essential commodities from the local retailers. The long lines are not because the commodities being bought by the public are in short supply.
On the contrary, it appears, the members of the public are in a mad race to buy as much groceries as they can from the kitchen market. Such consumer behaviour, called 'panic buying' is observed in anticipation of calamities, whether manmade or natural, or of supply shortage. The fear that drives the public to stock up consumer goods may be real or imagined. Whatever the reason, such hysterical consumer behaviour can create real shortage of goods. One may recall here the pandemic time panic buying of hand sanitisers, masks, toilet paper, etc., in Bangladesh as elsewhere in world. Also, during the military regime of Ershad, the general consumers often demonstrated similar crazy buying habit. That would usually happen following the announcements of 48-hour, 72-hour or longer periods of countrywide hartals or shutdowns called by the opposition political parties.
We are often in the habit of criticising such crazy shopping on the part of the public whether driven by any rumour of supply crunch or the possibility of an impending crisis as a characteristic of only the Bengali people. But the fact remains that the behaviour is universal. History has ample evidence of this. Both before and after the two world wars, people in Europe and the colonial countries resorted to panic buying of foods, fuels and other basic necessities. It happened during the Bengal famine of 1943 during the second World War that caused widespread starvation, malnutrition, diseases and deaths. Between 0.8 and 3.8 million people died during that infamous manmade famine. So, the driving force of panic buying can be both spontaneous and ill-motivated. In either case, it is the people who have the money to buy more goods than necessary and stockpile those trigger the irrational shopping frenzy. The actual sufferers, as usual, are the limited income people and the vulnerable segments of the community.
Understandably, the current cases of frenzied shopping have to do with the agitating students' recently announced non-cooperation programme, long march, etc. As there is no sign yet of the unrest dying down, the members of the public are naturally fearing more chaos and anarchy in the days ahead. And the public's fears and anxieties are not misplaced either. With the extension of the curfew relaxation time, it appears that things are gradually going back to normal. Now, only a positive move from well-meaning quarters can restore normality in the market and society at large.
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