n a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) called upon Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to start dialogue avoiding the confrontational satiation.

TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said, “The rising violence, chaos and disorder are deeply worrying, regrettable and unacceptable by any standard.”

He added: “This is the time for the prime minister and the opposition leader to call off the self-defeating contest of legitimacy, and place people’s interest above anything else.”

Iftekharuzzaman also said, “This is the moment for you to demonstrate the political acumen, commitment to democracy and democratic rights of the people and to start dialogue, which is the only option to avoid any risks against progress towards democracy.”

He also called upon political leaders to adopt a set of legally-binding code of conduct for hartal that would ensure the normal public life is not adversely affected by the illegitimate and unlawful use of this legitimate way of political protest.