Now 36-hour hartal

The country has been reeling under an indefinite blockade by the BNP-led alliance for the past 19 days. At least 30 lives perished, scores burnt and many groaning in hospital beds with other forms of injury.

Businesses are in tatters, education put on the backburner and farmers left in despair, as if nothing else mattered except for political rivalry.

Yet, the BNP and its allies have made another move to add to the pangs of the commoners.

On top of the bloodstained blockade, they yesterday called a nationwide 36-hour hartal from 6:00am today, saying it was a protest against the proposed power tariff hike, arrest of alliance men and "the government's conspiracy for subversive activities".

"Where would the two ladies' fight lead us? We're doomed," said Mohammad Saiful, perhaps summing up the bitter disappointment that is growing with each passing day among the general people over the ongoing violence in the name of politics.

To this trucker, who is in his early twenties, Khaleda Zia's obstinacy and Sheikh Hasina's defiance bear little meaning. All he knows is that this politics of vendetta has thrown him in hot water. He is forced to stay indoors in the daytime and take the wheels of his goods-laden truck only in the dark, that too risking his life, day in and day out.

"We can't rely on this rogue politics. We have to survive. And at the end of the day, we've to earn our bread under any circumstances."

Students graduating to higher classes saw the New Year bringing in an uncertainty as their schools were struggling to make schedules for the new classes.

Several thousand O- and A-level examinees have already missed out on a few exams. Uncertainty looms large among more than a million prospective candidates of Secondary School Certificate and equivalent public examinations scheduled to begin from February 2.

"I am tense as it is not certain whether the examinations will be held as per the routine. This tension is severely hampering my preparation,” said Adeeba Naz, an SSC candidate from Viqarunnisa Noon School.

"I am preparing myself, keeping in mind the intervals between the exams. I will be in problem if the routine changes due to the blockade," she said.

Adeeba was also worried over how she would travel to and from the exam centre if the blockade violence, that is mainly targeting vehicles, continues.

Businesses are losing more than Tk 2,277 crore every day due to the blockades and shutdowns, and the economy lost at least Tk 36,445 crore in first 16 days of political unrest, according to Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The sum is equivalent to 2.69 percent of the GDP, said the DCCI which made the estimate by calculating the losses in all financial sectors, including apparel, agriculture, real estate, and wholesale and retail markets.

"Blockades and hartals are affecting people and the country … Violence cannot be a means of solution,” DCCI President Hossain Khaled told The Daily Star last night.

He said the BNP must stop the violence and should withdraw the ongoing blockade for the sake of the country. "There should be a dialogue to solve the problem."

SA Kader Kiron, chairman of Bangladesh Dokan Malik Samity that claims to represent 25 lakh shop owners of the country, said the owners are about to go bankrupt due to the blockade.

"Burning people to death! What kind of a movement is this? … This must be stopped," he said.

He urged all political parties to reach a consensus through discussion. "We respect the politicians but we doubt whether they will be able to retain it."

Md Abdul Momin of Rangpur's Pirgachha cultivated cauliflowers on his 60 decimals of land, spending Tk 40,000. So far, he has managed to sell worth Tk 20,000 of yield only though the season is almost over.

"We have no idea how we will survive," said Momin in utter despair.

Around 1:00am yesterday, Al-Amin was wailing in the corridor of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital's burn unit. His elder brother Salauddin Bhuiyan was burnt along with 27 others when his bus was firebombed in the capital's Jatrabari area Friday night.

"I had requested my brother not to go to Dhaka amid the blockade as people were being killed in arson attacks. But he didn't pay heed saying, 'If I don't go to work, how will we survive?'" said Al-Amin of Narayanganj's Araihazar.

"We have no links to politics. Why then it's always we who fall victims to its wrath?" he said with tears clouding his eyes.

As many as 81 people took treatment at the DMCH burn unit in the country's worst bout of political violence since last year's national elections in which the ruling Awami League was re-elected after a boycott by the opposition. Fifty-one victims are still being treated there.

At least 30 people were killed in the violence since January 5. Of them, 19 had no involvement in politics.