Let wise counsel prevail

WE fully share the concern of, and endorse the call to the political parties by, several eminent citizens of the country under the banner Bangladesh Rukhe Darao to desist from violence or repression as means of resolving the ongoing political impasse. In fact they have echoed our call that we have been making in this column consistently.
We would like to believe that the two parties are not oblivious of the deleterious consequences of their respective stand regarding the underlying issue that prevails upon the country's politics.
The opposition's political programmes have become incrementally violent that has not only caused serious damage to the economy it has regrettably also resulted in deaths of a large number of innocent citizens. We fail to understand why the opposition has neither urged its activists publicly to desist from violence nor has it apologized for the loss of lives and private and public property.
By the same token, the arrest and remand of senior BNP leaders by the government has been extremely hamhanded and uncalled for, which has put cold water on the prospect of dialogue between the two parties. It has inflamed the situation further. And some mischief mongers are exploiting the current flux to perpetrate violence on the minorities.
We renew our call to the two parties to shun their rigid stance not because of external pressure, not because of any partisan consideration but because the people of Bangladesh have had enough of violence and turmoil.