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| Our home-to-be Naogaon is in the north-west. Our previous home Chittagong is in the south-east. |
We had another 8-hour hartal (strike) in Bangladesh today, our third for the week. From 6 a.m. until 2 p.m., no vehicles were permitted to use the roads. I did see a few cars on the road in my area nonetheless. Not perhaps the cleverest decision in my opinion, as the aim of a hartal is to shut down the country in order to force the government to make concessions for normality to resume as soon as possible, and any vehicle which does not observe a hartal runs the very great risk of being violently compelled off the road.
Bangladeshi politics is dominated by two parties: the Awami League (AL) and the Bangladesh National Party (BNP). AL is the ruling party and its leader is the daughter of Bangabandhu (Friend of Bengal) or, in other words, 'The Father of the Nation'. The leader of the BNP is the widow of a former president. Both men were assassinated while in office; after which their families picked up the mantle for public service, and have been firmly holding it ever since.
Today's hartal (along with the previous ones this week) was called by a coalition of eighteen opposition parties to protest the arrest of a senior member of the BNP party and to demand that the government re-install a non-partisan caretaker government (CTG) system before the next election (which must be held before January 24th, 2014, or earlier if the parliament is dissolved before its term expires). The CTG system was in practice in Bangladesh from 1990, formally constitutionalised in 1996, but abolished on June 30th, 2011 when the AL passed the 15th amendment to the constitution.
Simmering in the backdrop is the reaction to the establishment of a tribunal by the ruling party to try BNP-affiliated people accused of war crimes. These alleged crimes date back to 1971 when Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) fought to gain its independence from West Pakistan (and the time when the father of AL leader was in power). December 14th is Martyred Intellectuals' Day. Here are some photographs from TIME magazine and some more from The Guardian newspaper showing other events that occurred in 1971. The latest edition of The Economist has a granular report on the effect the trial is having on the political and judicial milieu in the nation.
We are fast approaching the 41st anniversary of the liberation of Bangladesh, known as 'Victory Day', on December 16th, and out of respect there may be a brief respite in the hostilities, or it may be an opportunity to rally people to fight again. It could go either way.
We are fast approaching the 41st anniversary of the liberation of Bangladesh, known as 'Victory Day', on December 16th, and out of respect there may be a brief respite in the hostilities, or it may be an opportunity to rally people to fight again. It could go either way.
I was reflecting upon my memories of living through hartals in Chittagong (1998-2001) this afternoon with a friend. The situation feels different now and I wondered why. I mulled it over and eventually concluded it was because the calling of hartals no longer surprised me anymore and I no longer reacted to them emotionally . I used to feel a sense of moral outrage at the senseless disruption it caused to everyday life. I don't recall the hartals were as violent as they are now, but I may have simply been unaware back then.
However, I have come to regard them as part of the political landscape. There is no doubt they are a lethal weapon. In a country with a population the size of Bangladesh they become a scary tactic because it is ever so easy for a mob mentality to prevail, reason to flee, and people to commit heinous acts that they would never contemplate in their right minds.
How desperate must people be to support such measures when they know the risks are so high?
However, I have come to regard them as part of the political landscape. There is no doubt they are a lethal weapon. In a country with a population the size of Bangladesh they become a scary tactic because it is ever so easy for a mob mentality to prevail, reason to flee, and people to commit heinous acts that they would never contemplate in their right minds.
How desperate must people be to support such measures when they know the risks are so high?
Information like this rarely, if ever, receives treatment in the Japanese media environment. So, thank you for illuminating something we wouldn't have seen otherwise.
ReplyDeleteYou'll laugh, Jodi, but reading about a strike reminded me of the first time I was in Australia. My return flight to Japan was cancelled because ground crew at Sydney Airport went on strike. At first I was in disbelief, but then heard from others that strikes by airport staff in those days were not unusual. I had to call Nagoya and tell people at the office I was marooned. The airline provided a hotel room for the night and I was on a flight the following day. It was all rather amusing.
What you are observing now sounds a bit more unsettling, but certainly interesting. You are a first-hand witness to the growing pains of a young nation.
Thank you for reading this post. Watching events and working out how they are connected is really interesting for me. I really hope Bangladesh can work through everything and come out the other side with a more prosperous economy and stable political society. It feels more hopeful these days...although that could be just because I am newly in town and haven't had the time to become disillusioned yet. Let's see how I feel in two years time.
DeleteYes, there were/ and still are, a lot of strikes at airports. Shame you caught out by it. I hope you enjoyed your extra nightin Sydney. Interestingly enough, Australian flight attendants helped to bring about a lot of social change after anti-discrimination legislation was introduced in the 70s. The female attendants fought in the courts for equal pay, and gay male attendants fought for equal benefits. I listened to a very interesting programme on the radio about it all just recently.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/hindsight/pink-collar-workers-in-the-sky/3589362