A ride-sharing biker set fire to his bike as a traffic sergeant attempted to fine him on the Badda-Gulshan link road in the capital on Monday. The incident immediately became viral nationwide on social media. The incident occurred on Monday morning when the owner of the bike in his 40’s was waiting on the roadside with others for customers. A police sergeant walked to him and demanded the bike’s papers. As the bike owner got engaged in an altercation; the policeman attempted to fine him for nothing seemingly wrong.
The man reacted sharply, setting his bike afire. When local people tried to extinguish the fire, he obstructed them and the footage showed he rather shouted in exasperation throwing straws on fire to further fuel the blaze. This was the angry reaction of a man suffering from depression after losing his small business amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He lost Tk 9 lakhs in a failed business and as a last resort took up ride-sharing service to feed his family. But repeated police searches and cases in the street made him to dispense with his means of earning livelihood. The Badda-bike incident may be just a spark of discontentment of the poor bike-ride sharers who went for a wildcat strike and staged demonstration in the city on Tuesday.
The administration is living in a fool’s paradise as its police and other forces are killing and harassing people and extorting businesses without any accountability. The outburst shows a glimpse of how poor people including bike-ride sharers are burning inside in a suffocating air in utter frustration where only some people are enjoying life in endless bounty. People are routinely protesting such police behaviour. A section of law enforcers stops vehicles on roads and highways to collect bribes. They arrest people for nothing or file false cases to harass people for money. They taint the image of the force which has many talented and dedicated members. Such behaviour from them is possible because the government is dependent on police support for power.
The government is so flushed with money and posh life style that they have no time to listen to cry of hardship of the people. It does not care about economic hardship of the general public, so does not police. The government not being elected by the people, suffering of the people is not their concern. Many jobless young men borrowed money to own a motor bike to earn a living. But they are regularly harassed for extortion. Crime is the business of the government. So we do not honestly blame the police. Besides, the government is theirs.
The young biker’s cause of anger must not go in vain.
