Government's callous indifference boggles the mind

THE people are greatly perturbed by the heightening political tension and unrest in the country. Their trepidation is all the more pronounced seeing the doors to political engagement slammed shut one after another. There appears no opening in sight, nor even a glimmer of hope to nurture by way of breaking free of the albatross around the citizens' neck. Only some half-hearted and often contradictory banter.

Despite continuing hartal, violence, blood-letting and enormous damage to property, the major political players are basically doing nothing to address the doom-gloom scenario. The simple question exercising the public mind is that nobody is taking responsibility for the unfolding consequences of a dire strait the country is first sinking into.

The government is in the overall charge of the country and its remit dictates that it come forward in a crisis situation which basically is of its own making. In our view, the government is making no effort at all to try and resolve the crisis in any way. On the contrary, it has been shifting positions with the passage of time.

The sole issue revolves around a single point which is agreeing to a political structure before the polls that will ensure participation from all political parties and a credible election. Now the government side at one point gave us to understand that it had moved closer to an interim arrangement before the polls. The leader of the opposition too made it clear that the BNP was agreeable to an interim government in one form or the other.

Instead of progressing along the line, political parties recklessly indulged in empty speech making, and the ruling party in particular, showed the incapacity of separating the caretaker or interim issue from that of the war crimes. Every now and then, it would attribute opposition's demand to their agenda against war crimes trial.

The ministers and the ruling party leaders never tire of repeating the prime minister's rhetoric on the issues, thereby refusing to be part of any meaningful political discourse.

Of all the criticisms that the government has courted by its arbitrary actions, the one that is absolutely indefensible is its persistent refusal to take any initiative to resolve the deepening national crisis. Resultantly, a lot more violence and sense of insecurity seemingly lie in store for the people.

Let us conclude with a clear message that in no way the government can escape the responsibility for resolving the current crisis upfront and headlong. We want to see a positive bent to things negative and counterproductive.