Political parties call for hartal (strike) or blockade at various times to press home their demands. The parties try to force the government to meet their demands by using hartal-blockade as a tool of agitation.
Sometimes there is success, sometimes there is failure in the attempt to press home the demand. The government also takes various measures to deal with the situation.
On Saturday, the BNP and some like-minded political parties tried to hold a rally in the capital. The BNP also succeeded in gathering activists from different parts of the country.
However, right after the start of the rally on Saturday, BNP activists clashed with the police. Their rally was suspended. Unable to hold a rally, the next day the BNP called for a dawn-to-dusk hartal program across the country.
The party announced a new program before the strike ended. The BNP announced a three-day blockade program from Tuesday to Thursday.
There is currently discussion on social media and many want to know what the difference is between a hartal and a blockade
What is hartal?
Political analysts say that when a hartal is observed, all offices will be shut down, no vehicles will ply the roads. All educational institutions, including schools and colleges, and shops will remain closed. In a word, hartal is a program which puts a halt on daily life.
The first strike or hartal program was organised in this region in 1948, demanding Bangla as the state language of Pakistan. What is a hartal in Bangladesh is a bandh in neighboring India
What is blockade?
On the other hand, the blockade program means everything will be open. But there will be hindrances in the communication system. All supply chains except for emergency services, including media, fire service, medical system, will be cut off through a blockade program.
Obstructing the movement of transport from one city to another or from one area to another is essentially what a blockade is.
Hartal and blockade programs are almost the same in Bangladesh.
Anti-government forces compel people to carry out programs through arson and vandalism whether or not the people respond spontaneously to them. People are forced to carry out the program through a blocking of roads, seas and railways.
What opposition says
When asked about this, Saiful Haque, general secretary of Biplobi Workers Party, a BNP ally, said that the program of a 72-hour blockade after the hartal is a program of a slightly different format. Its difference with the hartal is that the hartal is celebrated with the consent of the people.
“Hartal means everything will be stopped. You may not join this event physically. But there are always some gatherings during a blockade,” he said.
He said that during a blockade, the highways and railways are all closed off. Apart from the political party leaders and activists, the presence of the affected common people is also noticeable in the blockade program. This is done to coerce the government, when they do not allow any peaceful assembly into agreeing to opposition demands.
Saiful Haque also said that the government has completely closed the way for a peaceful solution centered on the elections in the last two days.
“The full responsibility lies with the government and the ruling party. The government thereby wants to move towards an illegal election again,” he added.
Regarding Saturday’s events, he said that the government had planned it. Their statements in the days leading up to this mass meeting proved that. Their leaders and activists were asked to bring sticks.
Saiful said: “Still, we hoped that the rally would be peaceful. We were totally unprepared for such a situation. After the start of the conflict, BNP leaders and activists had to go for self-defense. The incident of the death of the police and Jubo Dal members is certainly undesirable. It's all part of the government's blueprint.”
He said that there has not been such a spontaneous successful hartal in the last two decades. “This time, the hartal was an expression of the distrust of the people of the country towards the government.”
What authority says?
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) Dr Mahid Uddin said: “Those who organized the program can say whether there is any difference between hartal and blockade. What we do in both programs is similar. Be it hartal or blockade, the police will take whatever measures are necessary for the safety of people's lives and property.”
