The nation grieved with the Awami League and expressed spontaneously its resentment and consternation through the two-day hartal on the 24 and 25 August. The two hartals have not only demonstrated public anger at the bomb blast, but, hopefully, also conveyed to the government that the onus of catching the terrorists rests squarely on its shoulders. If hartal is a tool of ventilating one's grievances and conveying a message to the government, the Awami League has done that adequately, and with the full participation of the people.

Thus, the logic of calling another hartal soon after the two-day stoppage is lost on us.

Indefinite strike has also been called at all educational institutions. We cannot but express our concern at its fallout on the students. Coming in the wake of the recent floods, prolonged break due to indefinite strike will grievously hurt the students.

The fact that the elementary schools are being forced to close under duress should be a cause for misgiving. This goes against the pledge of the political parties to keep educational institutions outside the scope of hartal. If student politics there must be, it should be confined to the university level, this is our firm belief.

Today's hartal also coincides with the proposed BNP rally to protest the 21 August incident. One would not be wrong to view this as an attempt by the Awami League to deliberately seek a confrontation with BNP. This is injudicious to say the least and will only exacerbate the already tense situation.

We feel that frequent hartal will not only dilute the gravity of the brutal grenade assault, there is a good chance that this will deflect our attention from it.

Nothing should be done at this moment that would further the cause of the perpetrators.