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Need for a Code of Ethics for Hartal

by Mohammad Siddiquer Rahman
***Is hartal a democratic right! If so, do the people have also the right not to participate in hartal without fear of physical assault or damage to vehicle or property!***
HARTAL is destructive and dreadful, says a street-side stall-owner, who sells biscuits, toffees, cigarettes and banana. The other day. his vending shop was severely damaged and all his merchandise worth about Taka 2000 were lost because of violent attack by the hartal squads. A baby taxi-driver. Amin said he could not go out to the street to earn his living for the day because of the strike. My milkman. Kalu Mia lamented that strike is Inhuman because he could not take his ailing mother to the hospital although he memaged to get a bed in the Dhaka Medical College Hospital after lot of efforts. Mrs Shaheda. my neighbour is very unhappy because her sons and daughters cannot attend the classes, although the examination is so near. But the most worried was Mr Alauddln. who owns two garment factories and is unable to ship Iris export orders because of hartal of transports and the port. Failure to send the consignment in time is not only going to affect the present order but will lead to cancellation of future orders by the buyers.
These are but woes of a few individuals, caused by hartal. Millions of people all over the country suffer from many kinds of problems and difficulties when there Is a country wide hartal. But the damage and loss caused to the economy due to hartal is colossal — because of stoppage of industry and loss of production, stoppage of all kinds of transportation by rail. road, water and air. stoppage of work of sea-ports and airports and river ports, closure of shops and business houses, markets and even street-vending. The day labourer can't earn his bread for the day. In a word, the whole economy and every-day life of the people come to a grinding halt, besides damage and destruction to infrastructure and assets and killing, injury and hardships caused by violence and consequent police action.
A strike in a factory or an industry by the workers may be legal if they follow the legal procedure for collective bargaining. But how about political hartals staged by opposition political parties against the government to demonstrate protest or disapproval of any government action or to realise some political demands? There does not appear to be any legal sanction for a political hartal nor Is there any legal bar to such political movement. Is hartal a democratic right? If so, do the people have also the right not to participate in hartal without fear of physical assault or damage to vehicle or property? The political leaders and Jurists will have to find answers to these questions But the fact remains that hartal has become a part of our political culture as an Instrument of the opposition political parties to unseat the government in power.
In Bangladesh power Is transferred either by killing as in the case of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mu-Jibur Rahman or president Ziaur Rahman or by hartal or mass-upsurge as in the case of president Ershad or prime minister Khaleda Zia. But these hartals brought, in their wake, terrible sufferings of people and Inestimable loss to the economy. According to a newspaper report. 144 hartals took
Sice between January and October 1995 ranging tween 6 hours and 96 hours (in case of nonstop or 'tagatar1 hartals). I suggested that since hartal seems to have become inevitable and unavoidable means to compel the government in power to agree to any power-transfer mechanism, all the political parties should get together and work out a code of ethics for hartal by consensus so that the damage and loss to the national economy, and the sufferings and hardships of the people could be minimised.
A code of ethics for hartal may include the following :
a) Hartal should not be called for more than six hours.
b) Non-stop or lagatar ' hartal should be banned and declared illegal.
c) Essential services like electricity, water supply, gas, hospital and medical services, fire service, food-shops and medical stores, newspapers and media services etc., should be exempted from hartal. (These seemingly still are. but not fully perhaps. For instance, it is simply hard to get a transport to take a patient to hospital during hartal, and even press' vehicles cannot escape the wrath of hartal squads.)
d) Export-oriented industries like garments. Jute, leather etc., should be exempted from the operation of hartals.
e) Transport and communication like train services. steamer and launch services, long-distance bus services, sea ports, airports and inland waterway ports and telecommunications services should be exempted.
I) Schools, colleges, universities and all other educational institutions should be exempted.
g) Rickshaws should be exempted, fully.
n) Marketplaces for fish. meat, vegetables etc., should be exempted, with clear announcement..
Such a code of ethics in order to be effective must be formulated on the basis of a national consensus by all political parties.
It is well known that whenever a political party is in power, it fully realises the damage and loss done by hartal to the economy and the society. Its leaders make strong statements condemning those who indulge In politics of hartal.
This was done by BNP when they were In power, and this is being done by Awami League now after they have come to power. But the same party, when in opposition, seems to have become oblivious of these baneful effects and finds hartal as the only means to oust the party in power, which in its view, is irresponsive to the demands of the people.
Now that both BNP and Awami League had the taste of running the government some time or the other, they should fully realise the serious loss and damage caused to the economy and the society by hartals and should agree to open a dialogue amongst all political parties to work out a code of ethics for hartal to save the country from destruction and suffering.
The writer is a former ambassador and a cabinet secretary.