Vicious vehicles
First of all, congratulations for your four page special issue of March 24th highlighting the murderous vehicles and unlicensed drivers let loose in the streets of Dhaka! People die or are maimed for life; families are destroyed, the wage earner cut-down bringing untold misery for the family. Meanwhile, the killer driver at most has to suffer three years imprisonment if caught. Normally, he will obtain bail, and get lost to carry on his killer career in another city or town in Bangladesh!
Meanwhile, inspector of vehicles and traffic policemen, make "hay while the sun shines"! Any piece of paper with a smudgy photograph, but with a Tk.500 currency note attached; makes do for a driving licence! Human carcass haulers "Zindabad"!
Anisur Rahman's magnificent photograph of the bus/scooter sandwich is really marvellous! Lucky that he was not run over, to live and publish it! It must have been at grave risk! The photograph deserves an international award, not to speak of one in Bangladesh for an excellent composition! The title of the article of your report "buses could not care less" is ideally represented in Rahman's photograph! One can say here we have an "ounce of visual, worth more than a ton of words", to use the popular phrase that we know, with license to change the two key words!
Regarding the photo of the 'capped' and 'bearded' driver, without any dashboard instrument; his defence could be that he was using 'eye-ball' instrumentation, with 'hand and foot leverage' mechanism to control the vehicle in the busy streets of Dhaka! However, the accuracy of his 'eye-ball instrument' and 'foot and hand leverage' depends on his eyesight and physical and mental coordination; none of which is a criteria for testing a potential driving licence applicant! All he must ensure to see clearly is the approaching hand of the prospective law enforcer for his fair dues of the day!
Now a word about our pedestrians, they too enjoy crossing the road against the traffic signal, dodging between vehicles or chancing their speed against the approaching vehicle, to see who crosses the potential point of impact faster! After all if the pedestrian fails, he is safe; 'so he thinks', because the driver has the brake; upon which he bets with his whole life or limb at risk!
Lastly; I feel sad. Will your writing and photographs matter? After all, the vehicle inspection and traffic control personnel's 'Gravy Train' has high power prime-movers to keep the 'Gravy Train' going, despite the yellow signal of your special issue, and people's words and opinions! All said and done, as the saying goes, "Charlie Chan carries on!"
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments