There’s another protest strike in the works for this Monday. This time, the opposition BNP has promised a massive hartal that will make good use of the grievances of the four rightist parties with which it was in coalition.
Global food prices have skyrocketed with attendant increases in the price of cereal grains. Moreover, the valuation of the Dhaka Stock Exchange has been falling recently. Large chunks of paper wealth–real wealth–has disappeared. Along with this the recent detention of BNP and Jamaat leaders has inflamed the passions of the party rank and file within what remains of the BNP coalition. Jamaat is reeling from a complete thrashing within its leadership; there’s much for them to clamor about on the streets.
Whatever the final outcome, whether the hartal actually takes place, the BNP coalition is well-outfitted to create some noise, bring some thunder. The rising price of staple food items will likely drive many to protest. Indeed, the rising cost of food prices was a major thrust of the peaceful anti-government demonstrators in Egypt. Never mind that the ruling government has little control over rising prices; that it is responsible for a wave of arrests over the latter half of this past year might well be enough to have some real impact out on the streets of Dhaka and elsewhere.