Letters to the editor

Ban hartal, blockade and the like for good

Sir,
 Most of the hartals or strikes in Bangladesh have a devastating impact not only on economy, production, import, export and business but also tremendous negative impact on the overwhelming majority, especially the vulnerable, destitute, poor, women, children, youth, adolescents and elder people as well as domestic and foreign investment.
  According to the UNDP estimate, hartal on an average , took away 4.5 per cent of GDP per annum during 1991-2000 period. No doubt this figure has exceeded more than 10 per cent per annum on the recent occasions of hartals. According to Computable General Equilibrium (GCE) model statistics, a day of hartal eats up approximately USD 1.0 billion of the country's national gross domestic product. It is easy to
calculate the macro level loss and damage incurred due to hartal. But is it possible for us to assess the loss of millions of bread winners’ sufferings, hardship and starvation out of such hartal game?
  Is it also possible to know the mental state of those families who have lost their close kin and relatives out of such brutal hartal? Is it also possible to get back proper compensation for loosing the last resort like a rickshaw, a van, a motor cycle, a bus, a truck, a cart, mini bus, a three wheeler, a car, or a covered van, a house, a shop or any sort of asset or
property?    Similarly is it possible to compensate a daily wage earner who have lost his/her four/five day’s income due to 84 hours or 96 hours hartal which not only compelled him/her to starve but forced other family members including infant to starve too?
 It is high time for the Jatiya Sangshad (parliament) to consider legislation to ban or regulate hartal, blockade and the like.

Mizanur Rahman
Shantinagar, Dhaka

 

Letters to the editor

Ban hartal, blockade and the like for good

Sir, Most of the hartals or strikes in Bangladesh have a devastating impact not only on economy, production, import, export and business but also tremendous negative impact on the overwhelming majority, especially the vulnerable, destitute, poor, women, children, youth, adolescents and elder people as well as domestic and foreign investment. According to the UNDP estimate, hartal on an average , took away 4.5 per cent of GDP per annum during 1991-2000 period. No doubt this figure has exceeded more than 10 per cent per annum on the recent occasions of hartals. According to Computable General Equilibrium (GCE) model statistics, a day of hartal eats up approximately USD 1.0 billion of the countrys national gross domestic product. It is easy to calculate the macro level loss and damage incurred due to hartal. But is it possible for us to assess the loss of millions of bread winners sufferings, hardship and starvation out of such hartal game? Is it also possible to know the mental state of those families who have lost their close kin and relatives out of such brutal hartal? Is it also possible to get back proper compensation for loosing the last resort like a rickshaw, a van, a motor cycle, a bus, a truck, a cart, mini bus, a three wheeler, a car, or a covered van, a house, a shop or any sort of asset or property? Similarly is it possible to compensate a daily wage earner who have lost his/her four/five days income due to 84 hours or 96 hours hartal which not only compelled him/her to starve but forced other family members including infant to starve too? It is high time for the Jatiya Sangshad (parliament) to consider legislation to ban or regulate hartal, blockade and the like. Mizanur Rahman Shantinagar, Dhaka