Bangladesh Blockades and booze
As the political situation in Bangladesh continues to worsen, so too does our tolerance for being housebound. Let me explain...
It is election time soon in Bangladesh, and the political climate is not so good. Political agitation here happens through hartarls (a city- or country-wide strike that is called the day before, which means no cars on the streets, no CNGs, no work for many people and no shops open) or blockades (road blocks are set up all over the city, and no vehicles are allowed through. These are often violent, and combined with riots, marches and sit-ins).
To ensure free and fair elections, three months before the election is due to be held, a caretaker government is appointed who are supposed to be neutral. This time around, one of the major parties (Awami League) wasn't happy with the chosen head of the caretaker government, because they didn't think he was neutral (hartal (strike) number 1; 2 days long), then the president stepped in and took over the caretaker government, which also didn't make them happy, and they were also agitating for reforms to the electoral commission (blockade number 1; 4 days long). The president didn't seem too phased about the whole thing, so AL called another blockade (number 2, 5 days long). Now the chief electoral commissioner has been sent on leave, and some other reforms are happening, AL thought everything might be okay... but.... not so! Now the electoral commission is trying to use outdated/dodgy voter lists, so blockade number 3 is looming....
For us, the political situation means hours and hours of time inside, under lockdown... We are not allowed to go to work, and often it is not safe to go outside on the street (Bridge got stuck is a rally when she went across the road to get coke supplies), so, it is inside for us! What do we do? Well.... The week usually starts off a bit like this:
It is election time soon in Bangladesh, and the political climate is not so good. Political agitation here happens through hartarls (a city- or country-wide strike that is called the day before, which means no cars on the streets, no CNGs, no work for many people and no shops open) or blockades (road blocks are set up all over the city, and no vehicles are allowed through. These are often violent, and combined with riots, marches and sit-ins).
To ensure free and fair elections, three months before the election is due to be held, a caretaker government is appointed who are supposed to be neutral. This time around, one of the major parties (Awami League) wasn't happy with the chosen head of the caretaker government, because they didn't think he was neutral (hartal (strike) number 1; 2 days long), then the president stepped in and took over the caretaker government, which also didn't make them happy, and they were also agitating for reforms to the electoral commission (blockade number 1; 4 days long). The president didn't seem too phased about the whole thing, so AL called another blockade (number 2, 5 days long). Now the chief electoral commissioner has been sent on leave, and some other reforms are happening, AL thought everything might be okay... but.... not so! Now the electoral commission is trying to use outdated/dodgy voter lists, so blockade number 3 is looming....
For us, the political situation means hours and hours of time inside, under lockdown... We are not allowed to go to work, and often it is not safe to go outside on the street (Bridge got stuck is a rally when she went across the road to get coke supplies), so, it is inside for us! What do we do? Well.... The week usually starts off a bit like this:
And ends up a bit like this....
posted by lucy at 12:39 AM
1 Comments:
Ah, you crazy girls! Hope there's a bit of brastic dancing going on there too!
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