Facing calamities
Photo: AFP
The calamity that has once more left lives in Bangladesh ravaged calls for some serious rethinking on our part insofar as tackling natural disaster is concerned. There is, of course, no way in which we can prevent nature from venting its fury. Throughout the ages Bangladesh has been battered by floods, cyclones, tidal surges and the like, and the consequence of it all has always been a trail of devastation left behind. People have died, while those who survived were left homeless and destitute. It is today a tale of all comprehensive misery. With each day that passes, the body count from the disaster gets to be higher. As far as crops are concerned, they have simply been destroyed. The government's response to the tragedy has been swift, which is a far cry from the tardiness that characterised action over the natural disaster which battered the country, when it was part of Pakistan, in November 1970. It is a relief to see the various departments of the government coming together to help mitigate the sufferings of those whose lives have been battered by the cyclone. Moreover, the speedy response of the international community to the tragedy is reflective of how seriously the cyclone has been taken note of by governments outside Bangladesh. On the face of it, therefore, everything seems to be working out all right and we should not have any reason for worry. That may be so, but only up to a point. What now needs to be done is for us as a nation to go back to a sense of morality and truly feel within ourselves that a tragedy has occurred and that we need to put in our bit toward lessening the miseries of those affected. The first step in that direction must of course be an emphasis on austerity, it is galling to see that despite the enormity of the cyclone and the resultant tragedy, there is hardly any sign of commiseration with the victims anywhere. Life has gone on as usual, with people staying glued to the consumer culture that has in recent years taken hold of urban society in particular. Marriage ceremonies on an ostentatious scale have been going on and no one has felt any contrition about such a situation. We expect relief operations to go ahead in order for people in the cyclone battered areas to return to a semblance of normalcy. We also think that it becomes the responsibility of the government, political parties, social organisations and individuals to go for a major thrust in rekindling the moral fibre of the nation. It is conscience that is all. When that goes missing, it is the collective future of a nation that is jeopardized.
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