Supply chain disruption

The proverbial 'last straw on the camel's back' could not be more apt for today's Bangladesh. Every aspect of life was adversely impacted by the turmoil the country found itself in over the non-political quota reform movement turning violent for almost a week. This was at a time when the country was reeling from an overall economic slump made worse for the low-income and marginal people by the soaring inflation. A shift in the non-political programme to the politically-nuanced anti-discrimination movement has turned the confrontation even bloodier and uglier on Sunday. The country was in convulsion with 102 lives falling dead and hundreds sustaining injuries on that day. Unprecedented in the independent Bangladesh's history, the casualty figures on a single day include both protesters and members of the law enforcement agencies. This is on top of the more than the toll of 200 lives in the earlier clashes between July 19 and 23.
The following stricter curfew now clamped indefinitely and the declaration of the three-day general holiday with banks and other financial institutes remaining closed, life has now come to a standstill. A breakdown of the supply chain that happened in the first round of bloody clashes has been further precipitated by this fresh round of violence marked by indiscriminate firing from men in uniform as well as rival groups in civilian dress, attacks on police stations and beating 13 policemen to death inside one of those in Sirajganj. This is proof enough that elements with ulterior motives have taken full advantage of the situation to further their nefarious mission to which students are unlikely to be a party. But this could certainly be avoided if only the administration did not mishandle the situation right from the beginning. Instead of taking the protesting students into confidence and opening a channel of dialogue, it has complicated the situation and given the handle to forces inimical to the country's very foundation.
When brutality, destruction and carnage of such order as that of Gaza are in full play, people get dehumanised and Bangladesh has gradually sliding into such an abyss. At a time of such crises, even disruption of supply chain limiting availability of necessaries loses its prominence. After all the bodies of so many compatriots ---falling victim to violence in so short a time ---weigh heavy on the nation's collective consciousness. But the biological needs of the living cannot be dismissed odd-handed.
People need foods for their survival. Grief and shock may numb senses ---in extreme cases traumatising a few beyond recovery---but ultimately they have to eat for survival. The snapping of the on-line communication which is now the basis of not only business transactions with foreign countries but also within the country earlier caused losses, according to a rough estimate, to the tune of $10 billion. Once again that connectivity has been severed making business difficult and in certain cases impossible. This is why maintaining flow of commodities through the supply chain proves crucial. People with small means cannot procure even the basic foodstuffs for keeping their body and soul together from a market with the minimum supplies.