Tasneem’s great piece in DS on why tragedies like the Kansat tragedy where farmers where shot for demanding electricity does not merit any discussion in our political arena.

I have been searching through the newspapers for one serious reference from any of the top opposition leaders regarding the Kansat drama for the past few days. Need I mention that I have failed?

Now the question targeted for the opposition remains, whether the Kansat killing is any less important than what is going wrong with the voter list? If I may note, our politics is now so very alienated from the grass-roots, that according to a Prothom Alo report, BNP and AL leaders in Kansat have confessed that they knew about the electricity problem from the beginning but never felt the urgency to treat the issue with any sort of attention. Maybe, ruling party activists were too busy plotting obstruction to opposition party long march while the opposition was busy planning its route to Dhaka and forming an “electoral alliance.”

The plain answer to this is Kansat gives zero milage to the Awami or BNP. It doesn’t pay to speak for these people. They are better off in finding ways to go to power. The wiretapping law that passed in the parliament today, do you think awami league who walked out protesting it will repeal this law when they are in power? Don’t hold your breath.
-Asif