Hartals lead to a severe supply crunch
Already three consecutive dawn-to-dusk hartals enforced by Jamaat-Shibir had hurt the supply chain of the economy. As if that was not enough of a disruption in the market, a three-day 60-hour continual countrywide shutdown has got underway with the BNP adding one day to the 48-hour day-night strike announced by the Jamaat-Shibir combine. It is worthwhile to note that the principal opposition BNP lent moral support to Jamaat called hartals. In other words, with the BNP joining in, the overall hartal situation looks fraught with risks of violence, hardship for the people.
As a matter of fact, many goods-laden trucks have been stranded in various parts of the country hindering movement of goods to the wholesale and retail networks. Many lorry-owners are refusing to put their vehicles on hire and those who are agreeable to leasing out vehicles are charging exorbitant rates. It is the consumers who will have to bear the brunt of prices being marked up by the traders on the plea of higher cost of business.
Vegetable prices have shot up and so have those of other perishable items because in the stuck-up trucks, these are susceptible to rotting. In fact, a wide range of essentials including rice are beginning to be expensive. It is easily imaginable how lower productivity coupled with dislocation of supplies during the remainder of the hartal period is going to affect the markets with its deleterious effects on the consumers' plight.
Little wonder, heads of 27 trade bodies have voiced their concern over the spiralling violence in national politics. The business community has urged the opposition parties to refrain from frequent shutdowns. Such continuous strikes can only spell lawlessness and anarchy. Severe deterioration of law and order does not only breed social insecurity but also reflects on political instability. This in turn can reduce investment in the economy.
Our earnest hope is that the political parties would disengage from the confrontational mode and take the path of discussion in the greater interest of our beloved country.
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