A POLICE bus while on the wrong lane killed a motorcyclist who was a student of ASA University of Bangladesh and hearing the news, students from the nearby universities started staging demonstrations blocking the road as reported in a newspaper on Tuesday. Saviours became the demolisher while law enforcers violated the traffic rules thereby, causing agonizing death of a student. A country’s development and civility is judged by its road discipline, road conditions and public transportation, etc. In Bangladesh, there is no road discipline or control, the condition of roads is terribly poor and public transport is badly disorganised. It has become a norm that vehicles with government stickers and some flaunting the national flag drive on the wrong side of the streets while “commoners” remain stuck in traffic jam on the right lane. A report said that flag-bearing SUVs of ministers, cars of lawmakers, top government officials of different ministries, police, leaders of the ruling party and its front organizations, staff buses of government offices and student buses of Dhaka University are seen routinely violating traffic rules. It is acceptable that government ministers and officials have reasonable urgency to keep engagement and violating traffic rules become unavoidable. But that is a bad example and also risky for others. Law-breaking is not the solution. The government has to take the responsibility of solving the problem of traffic situations, not violating law.In the latest development to the city’s traffic system, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has launched an atypical initiative in a bid to reduce the city dwellers’ tendency to violate traffic rules. The new device, set up on the road, will not allow the vehicle to cross its line. Tyres of a vehicle will get punctured when it will come in contact with the devices and cross it from opposite direction. But the installation of the device is dysfunctional as VIP’s move is seen in the roads of Rupashi Bangla intersection and others.Nobody can deny that there is lawlessness everywhere. The cause of the lawlessness has to be removed by dealing with problems created in public life. The general public is helpless and it is known to police also. So the police have to know that as law enforcers they have accountability to the people. It is alleged that the student was not dead when met with the accident, but police van was driven over him second time to ensure he was dead and no direct evidence is left. This is terrible, needing to be punished those responsible most harshly.
