The vast majority of people simply want to be able to live their lives without political disruption and fear of violence.
On Friday, the Dhaka International Trade Fair saw record crowds for this year. Amid reports that there was a relative reduction in violence on the 11th and 12th days of the nationwide blockade, it was a brief but welcome sign of normality.
With the UN and key trading partners expressing concern at the loss of lives and disruption inflicted during the blockade, it is more urgent than ever for the government and BNP to bring forth dialogue to end political violence and guarantee political stability.
Both sides must follow up some of the conciliatory statements officials from each side have made in recent days to indicate their preferred conditions for undertaking talks.
Neither side can afford to be inflexible. People of all ages from all backgrounds have been innocent victims of this month’s violence and the whole economy is needlessly hurting.
The path to a solution needs all parties to act positively. Now is not the time to harden their public stances. The public is acutely aware of the rising toll of injuries and death caused by the violence of the last two weeks. At least 14 people, including five policeman, were injured in bomb attacks in Dhaka on Saturday.
The government and BNP alliance both have a responsibility to listen to the public and show more responsible leadership. The government should stop preventing opposition rallies while the BNP must stick to purely peaceful and voluntary methods of protest. Whether by responding to overtures for dialogue or making new gestures of their own, they must end the deadlock now.
