SINCE the government hiked the transport fares recently to match with the increased fuel cost, the transport owners have imposed exorbitant transport fares upon the commuters making majority of the citizens hostage. As the government set the fares, it is also the government’s responsibility to see that its decision is implemented. Calling strikes against a mobile court verdict, which awarded one month’s imprisonment to a transport worker for charging extra fare is an audacity. The bus owners and workers are also party workers of the government. That being so, they think they are no less powerful than the government.
According to media reports, quarrels between transport workers and passengers became a common phenomenon centering the raised fares in Dhaka. Transport fares fixed by the bus-minibus owners are higher than that of the government. There is so much anarchy everywhere in the government that the bus owners and workers felt confident in defying the government decision.
Sunday’s incident of wildcat bus strike centered around a mobile court which fined a bus for charging an extra amount in fares in Dhaka city. Transport workers called strike instantly putting the commuters into much inconvenience in and around the capital. One month’s simple jail term handed to a bus conductor by a mobile court at Taltola, Agargaon for charging excess fares prompted the wildcat strike. It also appears that the mobile court authority has failed to assess the situation for using their judgement. Sending a bus conductor to jail was not the right decision in that tense situation. Whoever has some state power he is forgetting the need of showing restraint. Everybody should realise that police power alone cannot help a crisis to be resolved.
It is not enough that laws must be obeyed. The laws have to be reasonable and well thought out. The government is relying on arrogance and too much muscle power. This is not the way to run a country properly.
