When people chase police and politicians

In Kansat a few days back, people "revolted" against irregular supply of electricity to the cost of twenty lives under police firing. Women and children appeared as the vanguards. In Demra this time, people revolted against non-availability of water and interrupted supply of electricity, day and night, for 2-3 months! We fail to understand as to how the government or its agencies could overlook the woes of the people for whom they stand to serve.

People of the locality complained several times about the acute scarcity of water and electricity -- two of the most important ingredients in modern day life -- but received no attention either from the government or from the person they had voted for as MP during the last general election.

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Historically speaking, people of this country are, by their very nature, polite and reasonable. The suffer and rarely rise up unless forced to by the ferocity of the events. But once they appear on the streets for a cause, history tells us, they never return home without fulfillment of their demands.

Meantime, valuable lives are lost and properties are destroyed. The most recent empirical evidence to this effect was a "quasi-revolution" in Kansat that cost twenty lives to warrant attention from the government. The government had to eventually bow down to the people.

Likewise in Shanir Akhra, special arrangements with regard to water supply -- though meager -- are seen to have been taken after people chased police and the "politician" who represents them in Parliament.

Newspaper reports say that Shanir Akhra in Demra turned turbulent on May 5 as clashes erupted between people and the police. As the police failed to face the turbulence, local JCD activists or government-backed "private police" armed with sticks stepped in to drive people back to their houses. Both public and private police attempted to attack people demonstrating for their right to water to drink and bath.

But faced with the odds, the people of Demra barricaded the highway for thirteen hours. We saw the scene shown by private TV channels the other day in their news bulletins. Police tried to subdue them by the traditional means but had to back out on the heels of heightened agitation.

Then came the local BNP lawmaker -- with gun and goons -- to show that he is master of the people, not their friend. He had no idea about the adage that, to people's power, everything is powerless. Instead of show sympathy for the noble cause and giving them assurances for redressing hardships, the MP uttered threats and insults and authorized the police to shoot. People got furious when the local MP himself tried to open fire with the gun that he carries with him.

Has he read or heard about Kansat in recent days -- not to speak of people's power in distant past? Perhaps not. Unfortunately, his ignorance was not bliss but a curse. The "honourable" MP was found desperately running for a cover as the people pelted him after he fired in the air.

The personage referred to is Salahuddin Ahmed, a ruling party MP, and the people were from his own constituency. He earned the wrath of the public for his alleged show of gun. The BNP lawmaker was injured as the angry agitators hurled brickbats at him and beat him with sticks. Thus he entered and thus he left.

Like Kansat, the initial reaction was peaceful and quite in consort with democratic norms. People have the right to raise the demand for water and electricity. But as we heard, police soon arrived to charge batons and lob teargas shells to disperse the demonstrators demanding water and electricity. In both Kansat and Demra, the "villain" seems to be the local MP who instigated police to open fire.

It is unfortunate that in the heart of Dhaka city, residences remain without water, not for few days, but for few months. In the heart of Dhaka city, interrupted supply of electricity causes tremendous losses to business and industries, hampers students before the ensuing examination, and causes all kinds of hardships.

Few days back, I visited a re-rolling mill at Shampur on the way to Narayangonj. The owner of the mill (a cousin of the local MP) complained to me that during the last Awami League regime, his firm faced no serious crisis as far as electricity supply was concerned. But during the last couple of years, his production came down by one-third due to frequent power outages. Re-rolling mills need constant power supply to minimize costs. He also spoke about the problems in the area with respect to public utility services.

If Dhaka -- the capital city -- faces such problems frequently, what could be the situation outside? The Hon'ble Prime Minister has possibly noticed that the "flood of development" during the tenure of her government has caused a serious drought in water and electricity. She should have also noticed that her party lawmakers are unpopular with the people.

The notice should serve well for a wake up call that the whole of Bangladesh today assumes the situation of Kansat or Demra. People fear police but not for a long time. The police are now fleeing. The guns and goons serve for a very short spell of time before they are brick-batted and have to run for a cover.

The best way to face people is to serve them in the real sense of the term. People of this country are by nature modest and their demands are also modest: water and electricity -- at tolerable interruptions -- and also in Dhaka. The soaring prices of essentials to punch people below the belt are another issue that might again cause the government to run for cover during the next general election.

Abdul Bayes is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.