Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
has threatened a return to hartal
... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ...
s and blockades after the Eid-ul-Fitr this year, should the government keep refusing to hold fresh elections under a neutral government.
The party would do well to remember that the violence unleashed during the hartals and blockades of 2013 cost many lives and crippled the country's economy. The BNP lost a lot of public sympathy because of the suffering their agitation caused to the common people.
BNP leaders should ask themselves: Why has the public simply accepted the January election, which was held without the participation of the BNP? It was probably because the public had grown weary of the BNP's campaign of hartals and blockades, during which innocent citizens, sometimes even children, were horribly burned to death.
An opposition party needs the goodwill and support of the public to win elections. There is no doubt that last year's senseless bloodshed cost the BNP the goodwill of the public.
Khaleda Zia should realise that recent murders and abductions have increased the BNP's political capital. With Awami Leaguers being charged with serious crimes, the AL is making the BNP look good. The BNP should try to continue to look good until the next election. This means making a commitment to avoiding hartals, blockades, and eschewing violence of any kind.