It IS clear like daylight that human life is cheap, if not cheaper than in any other place, in Bangladesh. Launch drowning and the subsequent scores of dead bodies floating and score of others being “missing” for good has become an annual phenomena in Bangladesh. Like every other year, this year the harbinger of stormy season reaches Bangladesh with stinky air coming out of at least 31 dead bodies so far, found in the Meghna river in Munshiganj district.Out of 300 on board, only 40-50 passengers made it to shore alive. According to a diver of the coastguard, a clearer picture regarding casualties will come up, once the launch is pulled out of the water.Yet, over 100 more are missing after a launch heading for Shariatpur from Dhaka went down, the second launch upturn in two weeks. In the earlier incident, at least 15 people drowned when a launch carrying over 60 passengers went down in the Golachipa river in Patuakhali during a nor’wester on May 3.Hundreds of people including family members of missing passengers crowded the shore near the accident spot. Some were hoping and praying that their loved ones had survived due to a miracle. The traumatized, bewildered and angry survivors blamed the captain and over-loading of the vessel for the accident.As the launch capsize has become an annual event in Bangladesh, the newspapers write editorials criticizing the same story of overload, criminal mismanagement and infinite apathy of the high ups of regulators. Other citizen and customer bodies raise voices frequently as well. This time too, like the past occasions, the government has formed a probe body to find out causes of the launch capsize and fix responsibilities. But, it’s a common knowledge that the probe report, if at all finalized, will not be made public or its recommendation heeded. The regular incidences of accidents bears the witness that nobody actually pays any heed whatsoever to these recommendations. The sufferings of the relations of the deceased, or should we say killed, will continue to be unheard as long as the representatives of people will continue to extremely undervalue the lives of ordinary people and events like this will continue to take place. The only way to make the authorities listen and to put adequate value to human life is, apparently, through greater popular engagement and overall democratic accountability of the people in office.
