RAJIB Hossain, a third-year student of Titumir College, whom right hand was pulled out being stuck between two speeding buses in the city, drifted off to death on Tuesday after two weeks in coma. The life of the ill-fated youth ended quite tragically at 21 leaving his two teenage brothers in hapless condition. Reckless driving though was the prime cause of the tragedy, we find two Cabinet Ministers to stand with drivers to award them clean-chit so that the unruly transport workers get impunity. That means nobody is responsible for the death except the victim himself.
It is not the end. As per news media, a week after Rajib’s accident, a bus smashed the right leg of Runi Akhter against the pavement on the same Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue. Runi, a university student, was working for a firm to support her education as her father’s business was not going well. She was supposed to finish her MBA in a month or two and then she could try for a better job. All her dreams have vanished and now her recovery is the main challenge. And for thousands of others, who commute every day in a city ruled by reckless vehicles, another such tragedy is only a matter of time. Anyone can end up like Rajib or Runi anytime. The battered and bruised bodies of vehicles on Dhaka roads bear the testimony to numerous crashes. According to police statistics, about 5,654 people died on Dhaka streets in 16 years, from 1998 to 2014.
There are laws to make the roads safer. But the implementation is an exception in the country. At least half a dozen authorities are involved in this sector, yet no one can be held accountable solely for any job. Like, an unqualified driver gets a licence from BRTA in exchange for money; when caught by police, the driver gets away also in exchange for money; and when an accident takes place, no single authority can be blamed for it.
Trial for accidental death is rare here. The severed hand of Rajib showed us two things: lawlessness in the country and citizens insecurity on streets. So, we think, it is the policymakers who should find out who’s to oversee the transport sector. The people cannot get hostage of evil politics of a couple of Ministers who are using thousands of uneducated transport workers for their personal interest.
It must be stopped immediately. Otherwise, the government should admit that lives of Rajibs are not important – they are meant to end on roads.
