Stop political violence

With 171 people killed in 230 incidents of political unrest in the first three months of this year alone, speakers at a roundtable called on the civil society to raise its voice against political violence.
Misuse of power by the state and political leaders gave opportunities to criminals to create unrest, they said.
Editor of Prothom Alo Matiur Rahman at the roundtable on political violence at the daily's office yesterday said during the first three months of the year there were 14 nationwide hartals and 68 regional hartals.
Immediately after Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity, 137 people were killed -- 44 members of Jamaat, six policemen and 70 other people, he said quoting figures from Ain O Salish Kendra.
Eminent citizens and civil society members spoke at the roundtable.
Akbar Ali Khan, former adviser to a caretaker government, said it was difficult to ensure good governance and rights of the citizens in a situation where there was political unrest.
“There is a difference between the religious extremism of the Liberation War and religious bigotry of present time. Now, people educated from the so-called secular institutes are also turning into religious bigots. The present day religious bigotry is a consequence of glocalisation,” he said.
Another former adviser to a caretaker government Hossain Zillur Rahman said political violence was changing the country's image from a “tolerant nation” to an “intolerant nation”.
“We have to talk about the collapse of good governance and we have to talk about the tendency to centralise political power.”
Sultana Kamal, executive director of Ain O Salish Kendra and also a former adviser to a caretaker government, said members of the civil society should speak about the ongoing culture in the parliament. She said abusive words from some parliamentarians reflect poor mentality of us as a nation.
She said during political unrest common people always end up dying.
Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, said politicians should understand that the civil society could be their critic and also their friend and that they should not be treated as enemies by the politicians.
He said the political conflicts in Bangladesh were largely due to personal and political interests. Everyone has the tendency to grab and hold on to power by any means as is evident in their attitude.
Former president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry AK Azad said if political violence and corruption could be reduced, eight percent GDP was achievable.
Tarana Halim, a ruling Awami League lawmaker, said appreciation of successes of the government was less but criticism for the failure was always great.