Iqbal Hossain

The sixteenth President of US Abraham Lincoln gave a definition about the democracy. He said that democracy is a government of the people by the people and for the people. All political parties of Bangladesh except Jamaat-e-Islam have trust in this historical speech. They say that they do politics for the people.

All political parties fascinate the people introducing their rights by what their suffering and lightness and various programs for their fate-development and ascertaining their partnerships in all sectors. But the reality is that our political parties, coming in power or remaining in the opposition forget all the matters of people’s those rights and freedom. Majority political parties of our country understand only to say freedom of the people to give vote freely and safely of their liking persons. They do not care for the rights of people’s freely movement.

Since all political parties have the rights of calling hartal and blockade because of that the people also have rights not to support these programs. But is it freedom or democracy to oblige the people to support hartal and blockade who do not support these programs? It is which freedom and democracy that it has to vandalize his vehicle and has to obstruct his movement who does not support these programs.

The political parties of our country understand only to say freedom of the people to give vote freely and safely of their liking persons. They do not care for the rights of people’s speaking freely or the rights of people’s movement freely. Since every political party has the rights to call the hartal and blockade because of that every man has rights to rejecting these programs. But is it freedom or democracy to oblige the people to support hartal and blockade who do not like these programs? It is which freedom and democracy that it has to vandalize his and has to obstruct his movement who does not support these programs.

The BNP, in demand of resignation of the government has been calling hartal and blockade in the country since October 7. According to information of the Fire Service and Civil Defense the blockaders and strikers have burnt 185 vehicles and damaged 15 establishments till November 20.

According to the police report the vandalizing has been occurred in 310 places and arson has also been occurred 376 places. They are not exempting the ambulances. The blockaders and strikers have persecuted the journalists. Rickshaw, easy-bike, cng auto-rickshaw are only the source of poor people’s earnings.

These are being burnt by the blockaders. The poor people have now sat in the way losing their vehicles. The families of them are living in inhuman life. The owners of the bus and truck are not getting courage to bring down their vehicles in fear of burning and vandalizing, especially due to remaining close the long-route buses and trucks day after day the drivers and helpers and their families are going without food.

What is his fault of which cng-auto-rickshaw has been burnt? What are their sin those people are not getting long-route buses in crying need? How to pass their lives if the buses are not moving? Does the government or the political parties give them compensation?

There is a question in the citizens’ minds that: Is it not possible to realize the demands without violence? The political parties think that the movement-field is in whose possession the vote-result will also remain on behalf of him. So, they do not walk in the way of discussion. Both parties think that they have to win through movements.

The opponent will only be flexible by the collision and violence. There is not such an example in the history of Bangladesh that an important political crisis has been solved through discussion. Since due to hartal and blockade the commodity-loaded trucks cannot move throughout the country in that reason the price of commodities is being gone up which is out of people’s buying-capacity.

So, the political parties have to trace the another way to realize the demand giving up these violence programs those give people pain falling in danger, keep the poor people in fasting, burn the vehicles which are only their earnings- source, give pain the poor patients at home, because they cannot go in the hospital in crisis of vehicles, destroy thousands crore money and obstruct the developments.

The BNP is now walking in that way for realizing the demand which is not doing only dishonor the democracy and people’s rights of movements and thinking freely, it is also introducing Bangladesh to the world as a terrorist and savage country. The BNP should give up this way in interest of the country.

The writer is columnist and retired deputy director of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy