Why Must We and How Can We Outlaw Political Hartals?


The Daily Star
06 December, 1997


There is only one way open to us to eliminate this hydra-headed problem: To outlaw political hartals(PHs). This we can do by amending the Constitution: All kinds of PHs shall remain suspended and all connections of political parties (PPs) with hartals organized by other civil associations shall remain prohibited till the transfer of Power takes place through the system of Caretaker Government.

WHY MUST WE AND HOW CAN WE OUTLAW POLITICAL HARTALS (PHs)? This is the question we are going to investigate. To proceed with our investigation, we first must answer three questions, in very specific terms. Why should we voluntarily choose to associate ourselves to a Nation? What is the fundamental purpose and function of a Nation? What is the fundamental mission of politics?

Let us agree on this assumption: We, humans, voluntarily choose to associate ourselves to a Nation with one basic motive - to protect and preserve our freedom and rights. We need to protect our freedom and rights to fulfil our dreams and aspirations in life.

The fundamental purpose and function of a Nation is then: Protection and Preservation of Human Freedom and Human Rights. And the mission of the social activities which we call 'Politics' is to achieve this fundamental purpose of the Nation.

Hartal, a political means of Civil Disobedience, is thus intimately related to the fundamental mission of politics. Our PPs must justify their hartal activities, some way or other, by showing that their actions are aimed at protecting our freedom and rights. And we, the ordinary citizens, who want to object to PHs, must do so by showing that our freedom and rights are being violated and our interests are being jeopardized.

I shall not examine how PHs violate the freedom and rights of our ordinary citizens. Instead I shall make one simple but overriding assumption: The vast majority of our people disapprove PHs, because PHs are violating their freedom and rights and damaging their interests. This assumption provides the rationale we need to study the question posed above and find out an answer.

WHY MUST WE OUTLAW PHs? This is the first question we have to answer. The answer lies in proving unambiguously that PHs are causing some kind of MATERIAL DAMAGE to our individual and national interests. To answer this question , we need to study the nature of costs and effects that PHs impose and produce on us.

The nature of costs that PHs impose upon us and the consequences we suffer can be studied from three different perspectives: (i) individual citizens, (ii) the economy, and (ii) the nation.

Costs to individual citizens: These costs are very easy to identify; they include personal hardships that individuals must suffer for obeying PHs against their wills. To understand how PHs affect our citizens individually, we have to classify them in different social strata.

The rural people, 80 per cent of our population, have little to be upset by PHs because their lives are not materially affected. Of the remaining 20 per cent - the urban dwellers - the low income self-employed people - rickshaw pullers, taxi drivers, petty traders and the like - are truly hard hit by PHs. Private businessmen and factory/industry owners are also affected by PHs; but, they can mitigate the effects in different ways.

The rest of the urban people are service holders, receiving salaries from public or private purses. These people are in fact beneficiaries of PHs: They receive their regular salaries and as bonus, enjoy unscheduled and unauthorized holidays. If their interests are not seriously affected, they have little to complain against PHs.

Costs and effects of PHs to individuals, therefore, depend upon their social status and position. The people who are hard hit by PHs have little power and means to protest. On the other hand, the people, having power to protest, are either incapacitated by PPs or have actually vested interests in PHs. PPs are in fact receiving active or tacit support to carry on their hartal activities.

Costs to the Economy: Potential production in factories and industries are lost because of hartals; the losses in individual production units sum to the national loss. These are costs to the Economy, which are underlined both by our own intellectuals and the donor agencies.

These costs become very important to our politicians when they are in power. Once they are out of power, they hardly matter to them; they begin hartal programmes as usual.

The costs to the Economy are not as important as they are claimed to be, because their appeal to both the victims and perpetrators is insignificant. Individuals do not carry out their private business considering national interests; politicians simply do not care.

Cost to the Nation: A Nation is a political entity; it is created by a common consent of the people it represents. Individuals unite under a Nation to protect and preserve their freedom and rights; the fundamental purpose and function of a Nation is the protection and preservation of human freedom and human rights; and the mission of 'Politics' is to achieve this fundamental objective of the Nation.

The cost that PHs are imposing upon our Nation must then be related to the violation of human freedom and human rights. We assume and we know that PHs are violating our freedom and rights. The question that we have to investigate is: What is the MATERIAL DAMAGE that we really be concerned about?

This is the MATERIAL DAMAGE of PHs: They have created a Pervert Culture in our society, a culture of MIGHT IS RIGHT. This culture is enticing and encouraging some of our citizens, deficient in human qualities and morally delinquent, to acquire resources and seize power, by hook or by crook, and materialise their evil designs. This pervert culture is creating a national situation, absolutely undesirable, untenable and dangerous: We are turning into a nation of uncivil and immoral people, a nation of lawlessness.

Let me explain. Humans are self-lovers, they only care for their own happiness. This is the original constitution of human nature. But, alone they can neither protect them nor can achieve their horrendous needs and desires. This is truth behind the formation of human civilizations, which we today call nations.

Because of their nature, humans cannot live in a society without some kind of rules guiding and controlling their behaviours. All nations are, therefore, founded on civil laws, executed by civil authorities.

When laws of a Nation fail to protect its less powerful members from the domination and oppression of its more powerful members, the rule that determines the social consciousness and helps develop social forces is: Might is Right. To explain the implications and effects of this political situation, I quote Jean-Jacques Rousseau from his SOCIAL CONTRACT.

...once might is made right, cause and effect are reversed, and every force which overcomes another force inherits the right which belonged to the vanquished. As soon as man can disobey with impunity, his disobedience becomes legitimate; and as the strongest is always right, the only problem is how to become the strongest.

I will underline three points from the above quotation. First, cause and effect are reversed. When Right is Might, all actions, private, social and political, lead to individual and national welfare, the fundamental objective of the Nation. Might is Right simply means violence which breeds more violence. Second, all acts of the stronger are legitimized. Finally, all one needs to achieve one's goals is to get stronger.

PPs are the representatives of our sovereign authority. By misusing their power and authority, they have accorded legitimacy to all illegal and unjust activities, by individuals or groups. To understand this, we just have to look around and see what is happening in the country: Students, teachers, employees, officers, and business people are making and realizing unjust demands through their associations.

HOW CAN WE OUTLAW POLITICAL HARTALS? We have then a genuine reason to outlaw PHs. The only way we can do this is by amending the Constitution. But, amending the Constitution is absolutely dangerous. This is particularly true when we are dealing with our fundamental right.

Hartal is our fundamental human right; we must not forgo this Right under any circumstances. There is indeed a way to achieve both of our objectives: to protect our fundamental right to civil disobedience and outlaw PHs simultaneously. As our Bengali proverb says, "The snake shall be killed but the stick shall not be broken".

Our politicians have instituted the system of Caretaker Government: Three months before the expiry of its tenure, the current elected government resigns and a Caretaker Government consisting non-political people is formed to conduct Parliamentary elections. When the elected government is sworn in, the Caretaker Government is released automatically.

Why have our PPs introduced this peculiar system? Certainly not for our national interests. The reason is: the PPs in power cannot be trusted to hold fair elections. Whatever might be the reason, we have one expectation in lending our support behind this system: The government shall be changed every five years. Absolutely, we do not expect and approve that new parliamentary elections will be called whenever opposition PPs think that government is inefficient and indulged in anti-people actvities. Do we?

Now we have a similar problem, this time with the opposition PPs. If our PPs would exercise our fundamental right, the right to call hartal, wisely and morally, this situation would have never arisen. But the fact is on the contrary. Thus, the source and the cause of both of political problems - fair elections and PHs - are the same: our political parties. The remedy must, therefore, be similar. Here is my proposal:

All kinds of PHs shall remain suspended and all connections of PPs with hartals organized by other civil associations shall remain prohibited till the transfer of Power takes place through the system of Caretaker Government. This Law shall be considered valid if and only if the political governments are changed by the system of Care-Taker Government and shall remain in force and effect until the system of Care-Taker Government abolished.

I now end my essay quoting the great American President, Abraham Lincoln, from a speech that he delivered on January 27, 1838:

Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in seminars, and in colleges; let it be written in primer, spelling books, and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in the halls of justice. And, in short, let it become Political Religion of the nation.




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