Opposition's human wall tomorrow

The operative words in the law enforcement circles appear to be reflective of apprehensions about some 'subversive activities' or attempts at anarchy creation being in prospect. Well ahead of the SAARC summit, we have been in the thick of what is designated as a special drive undertaken by the police to ensure security with an eye to the upcoming regional event we are hosting in Dhaka. There cannot be any second opinion on the need for having fool-proof security arrangements in place before the summit takes place. We are all for a maximum security alert and emplacements, but we cannot help say that it sounds rather expedient to be launching something of a mass arrest campaign taking the name of the prospective SAARC summit. Law enforcers arrested 1,454 people on various charges from different parts of the country in 24 hours until 6:00am on Wednesday, to say nothing of the arrests made earlier on.

The human chain programme, by its very definition, is a silent and peaceful mode of protestation which can only go wrong if it is resisted. It is a much better method than hartal which, needless to say, we have been fiercely opposed to. The civil society and the media have vigorously stressed the negative impacts of hartal and tried to dissuade the opposition from relapsing into a hartal mould. This has worked to a degree and, creditably for the opposition, they have used the hartal option sparingly in the recent months. But if the opposition's Saturday programme is foiled through crackdowns and other ham-handed methods, they might be impelled to adopt an intensely more implacable programme. Why must the government court something that is not only undesirable but also eminently avoidable? So, the government will be well-advised to give the opposition its due space here. The basic responsibility lies with the administration to keep things from snowballing.

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As for the opposition, its leadership must not allow the democratic nature of the human chain formation programme to be spoilt by any segment of activists who might prove vulnerable to fomentation of violence.