Hartal on last Saturday. PHOTO: AFP

This refers to the DS Letters page of 02-Jan-04. I saw a letter by Mr Sayez "Against hartal". However, I think "hartal" has become a part of the genetic-code of the politicians of Bangladesh. So, instead of trying to get rid of it, let's look at the flip side of the coin. We can propose to all the political parties to fix Saturday as the "hartal day". As many schools and colleges are closed on that day in the first place, so we can minimise the disruption to the academic calendar. Also, until the time that we are able to take the two-stroke taxis and other unfit smoke-emitting vehicles off the road, hartal can serve the purpose of a "motor-less" day.

How else would the atmospheres of cities like Dhaka and Chittagong get any respite?