Business turns paralytic

One thing which is clear is that Bangladesh is becoming a dangerous place to do business in. The decline in law and order has negatively affected all of us, but it is the business community that has been specially targeted by gangsters and it is this community that is suffering the most. Businesses with significant capital assets and cash-flow are both obvious targets and extremely vulnerable to extortion. Intimidation, extortion, threat of violence, and even murder is a common occupational hazard of doing business in Bangladesh.

These small businessmen and traders who are being targeted are the backbone of the economy, and the effect of this climate of fear that has been created, apart from the terror it has bred among the business community, is to further depress the economy. The extortion that businessmen must pay raises the cost of doing business to prohibitive levels. This is then passed onto the consumer and has been a significant contributory factor in the rise in the price of essentials and the rate of inflation that has dogged the economy. Both local and foreign investment have slowed to a trickle due, in large part, to the uncertain business climate fostered by the appalling law and order situation.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

The government cannot continue to tolerate this kind of breakdown in basic law and order. One would have thought that the human tragedy and horror of businessmen being hacked into a few hundred pieces would be sufficient to spur the government to action. But if the government is not moved by the plight of the business community, perhaps it will be motivated by the ripple effects of such rampant lawlessness on the well-being of the nation's economy.