Picket and police clashes marked the strike called by the Left Democratic Alliance on Monday in protest against the price spiral of essential commodities. According to a news report of The New Nation on Tuesday, the alliance leaders said that over one hundred activists of the alliance were injured and 30 others detained during the half-day hartal. The number of our activists may be smaller and the people’s response to the hartal too was lukewarm but our demand is valid when it comes to the question of price hike and the sufferings of the low-income people”, said the alliance leaders.
This claim is valid if they are to be believed. But the protesters had no right to sit on the streets obstructing traffic movement which means inviting police intervention. Admittedly, the number of protesters was small. This gives us reason to believe that if the police were properly trained they could have avoided being violent on them. They could get not the publicity they got for police, though the strike was a failure.
In our view, there was no need for the police to be violent to injure the protesters.
Our police need to be trained as a civilised and tactful force. The police must not mean a force of ruffians using sticks and guns unnecessarily. There is something wrong in training of the police as law and order force. They should be intelligent to deal with a violent situation in a non- violent way if it is possible. That will be the real credit to the police way. The police must not be as political opponents. They are for maintaining law and order.
