Law & Order in Bangladesh

Location: Dhaka

Everyday, driving along the same streets connecting my various relatives homes, we notice more and more of the familiar shops and restaurants along the way being demolished or defaced. Last night CandyFloss had a sign. This morning it is nameless. Yesterday, Asparagus restaurant had a front, today there's only a big gaping ugly hole. And no it's not the work of vandals or business enemies. It's the government. And no, people are not in uproar. People are watching and saying to each other, "Well, that's what happens when you don't follow the law."

It's not a revolution, but yet such a simple, subtle way the caretaker government is telling its citizens: Enough. What did these businesses do? They had merely crept outside the legal space/land alotted to their establishments. Some were obstructing pavement space. Others like the Rangs building have built entire monstrosities blocking the construction of desperately needed arterial roads in Dhaka's choked traffic grid. Government after government have been unable to get these businesses to follow the simple law of keeping within your territory, so now the government is doing things in a language only law-breakers understand: A punch in the face.