Wow, I have been atrocious at posting here, but I will try to do better (which I hope means lots of short posts - cause the long one's have been intimidating)
I'm spending today holed up in my apartment because of a political strike. These so called 'hartals' are periodically called by opposition parties to show that they still have sway. The strikes are enforced through the threat of violence against anyone who tries to go about business as usual. They serve as a protest mechanism that is essentially an annoyance to the Ruling party's activities and a means for them to assert their power. I usually swallow the hartal pill happily. I enjoy my day off and shake my head at the lame political pandering that plagues all democracies (though perhaps this one more acutely). Today's hartel on the other hand was called by a small rightwing islamic fundamentalist party (IOJ) to protest against the March 7th Passing of the National Act for Women. The group claims the act violates the teachings of the Quran by allowing women to have equal property rights to men. The vast majority of people, including the ruling government support the Women's Act and find the calling of the hartal not just annoying, but abhorrent. Nevertheless, the people have Dhaka have chosen to spend the day inside. The police force, tenuously controlled by the ruling party, has as of 11am, arrested 100 people trying to enforce the hartal with violence. This is the first attempt by the police and the ruling party to not allow a hartel since my arrival 6 months ago.
My reactions are so numerous I don't know where to begin but I figured letting people know it was happening was as good a place to start as any.
I'm spending today holed up in my apartment because of a political strike. These so called 'hartals' are periodically called by opposition parties to show that they still have sway. The strikes are enforced through the threat of violence against anyone who tries to go about business as usual. They serve as a protest mechanism that is essentially an annoyance to the Ruling party's activities and a means for them to assert their power. I usually swallow the hartal pill happily. I enjoy my day off and shake my head at the lame political pandering that plagues all democracies (though perhaps this one more acutely). Today's hartel on the other hand was called by a small rightwing islamic fundamentalist party (IOJ) to protest against the March 7th Passing of the National Act for Women. The group claims the act violates the teachings of the Quran by allowing women to have equal property rights to men. The vast majority of people, including the ruling government support the Women's Act and find the calling of the hartal not just annoying, but abhorrent. Nevertheless, the people have Dhaka have chosen to spend the day inside. The police force, tenuously controlled by the ruling party, has as of 11am, arrested 100 people trying to enforce the hartal with violence. This is the first attempt by the police and the ruling party to not allow a hartel since my arrival 6 months ago.
My reactions are so numerous I don't know where to begin but I figured letting people know it was happening was as good a place to start as any.
No comments:
Post a Comment