Siddique Islam (National News Service), Dhaka, Friday, March 11: Hartal has cost Bangladesh 3–4 per cent of its GDP on an average every year between 1991 and 2000, said a United Nations Development Programme Report (UNDP), which was released in Dhaka Thursday last.
‘Both the major political parties in Bangladesh have been equally active in using national strikes [hartals] as a means of protest, costing the nation a staggering 3–4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the 1990s,’ the report said.
The frequency of hartals has marked a dramatic rise since the advent of democracy in 1991. A total of 611 hartals were called from 1995 to 2002, said the report entitled "Beyond Hartals: Towards Democratic Dialogue in Bangladesh".
The report has been prepared by 10 leading Bangladeshi experts in history, politics, economics, law and media, said the UNDP resident representative, Jørgen Lissner, while releasing the report at the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.
On the other hand, the Chairman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Professor Rehman Sobhan, who was present at the launching ceremony, questioned the methodology of the report.
‘The methodology for loss estimation in terms of the GDP is not scientific,’ said Rehman. ‘The report could have been more accurate and scientific had it focused on particular issues like disruption in shipment, cancellation of export order and misery to people because of non-availability of transport on a particular date.’
According to the report, both major political parties have been equally active in using hartals as a means of political protest and in the ten-year period from 1990, some 61 national hartals were called by BNP and 67 by Awami League.
The report said the bulk of hartals were called by Awami League and BNP and both the parties account for 12 per cent of all hartals called. Consumer groups, civil groups, business and trade organisations have been associated with 12 per cent of hartal while the student groups have also called a large number of hartals, it added.
"The report said when a hartal is called by one of the major political parties; Bangladesh is forced to shut down. Shops, markets and places of work stay closed, children miss school, buses and other means of transport are forced to stay off the roads. As a result, earnings are reduced, education activities obstructed, and social services are difficult for ordinary people to access", the report said.
However, one thousand one hundred and seventy-two hartals were enforced between 1947 and 2002. Only one hartal was enforced between 1947 and 1950, five between 1951 and 54, 16 between 1955 and 1958, one between 1959 and 1962, six between 1963 and 1966, 38 between 1967 and 1970, 36 between 1971 and 1974, one between 1975 and 1978, 48 between 1979 and 1982, 52 hartals between 1983 and 1986, and 245 between 1987 and 1990, it noted.
In the report the UNDP put forwarded a number of short-term and long-term recommendations for moving beyond the culture of hartal and helping democracy to grow.
In its recommendations, the UNDP called for reformation of parliament as well as the electoral and political party systems by introducing such measures as 'opposition days/hours in parliament' and ensuring the independence of the speaker.
The government can establish basic watchdog agencies such as the Ombudsman, a human rights commission and an effective anti-corruption commission, it added.
However, opposition political leaders of Bangladesh ditched a report of the United Nations Development Programme on the economic impact of hartal and said the UN agency had failed to identify the main reason for shutdowns in the country.
Awami League presidium member Abdur Razzak reportedly said the opposition party had no alternative other than hartal to protest against misdeeds of the government. ‘When the government is barring us from holding rallies, processions and human chains, we have no alternative but to call hartal.’
The Workers Party of Bangladesh president, Rashed Khan Menon, said the opposition parties do not call hartal at their will, the government force them to do it. ‘The government creates the situations for hartal by impinging on the people’s right.’
The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) General Secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, said the UNDP report had failed to identify the main reason behind hartal. (End/si)
