Hartals: Infantile form of political protest

In response to a very interesting recent report in a national English daily, I am sure that the majority of people agree that hartals are a deplorable and infantile form of political protest - the absolute worst imaginable and the most horrible practice. Hartals bring out the evil in those who participate (mostly goons) and turn them into anti-social destruction machines. These people behave irrationally and relish in causing destruction and mayhem in the name of democracy that bring shame and dishonour to Bangladesh globally and label all of us as ignorant, backward, intolerable, aggressive and having no respect for the law. The poor people of this nation who today can hardly afford to put feed their family, always suffer the most through the loss of their daily income. God-fearing decent folk are afraid to walk the streets that their hard-earned taxes have paid for and confine their children indoors. Normal life is paused and for no logical reason, just to appease the whim of a self-serving Opposition Leader (whichever one) and give her the feeling of enormous power while she sits in her ivory tower seemingly without thought, respect, or regard for the harm and suffering that is being caused. I have joined the growing army of people who deplore and detest these senseless hartals. Some time back, Sir Frank Peters posed a most interesting question when he asked what would happen if a hartal were announced but the media ignored it and gave it no coverage? He went on to say that without the media coverage, chances are that only a few people would know the hartal exists and even less would attend. Although Sir Frank may have said it tongue-in-cheek, it does have a lot of merit and I propose the media should give it a try for the good of the nation. I would welcome a media blackout on all hartals, before, during and after. If the Opposition Party wants to announce a hartal, let them do so in paid newspaper advertisements. Some so-called 'news' is best ignored. Alternatively, to protect the greater interest of the nation, the Supreme Court could introduce a law that prohibits the media (Television, Radio and Press) even mentioning hartals before, during and after. Hartals should be categorised alongside porn, each a menace to society and against the greater development and wellbeing of the people and nation. Dr Sabina Chowdhury Chittagong Email: dr.sabina.chowdhury@hotmail.com