Editorial
Nature's fury strikes Japan
We stand by them, share their agonies
We are shocked, distressed and deeply saddened at the terrible devastation wrought by nature in Japan. The severe earthquake, on a magnitude of 8.9 on the Richter scale, was swiftly followed by a tsunami that left lives and property destroyed. It only bore testimony to the fragility of human existence. Our heart goes out in sympathy of the Japanese people and government for the grievous loss of lives and property they have suffered. We stand by them at their hour of grief and fervently hope that they will meet the calamitous situation with fortitude and resilience characteristic of them. Japan being one of the largest development partners of Bangladesh has a special place in the heart of Bangladeshis.
In these past many years, the environmental changes that have come over our world have been a reminder for all of us that unless we take measures to roll back the gathering tide of damaging climate change, we will all be in deep trouble. Nations across the globe have heeded the message. They have scrambled to put matters in perspective and have taken measures to correct conditions, though it is not yet clear whether the corrective steps will restore our world to where it used to be. And now there is this added fear of just how sweeping nature can be when it gets chaotic through a shift in tectonic plates. The tsunami in Japan has killed no fewer than a thousand (the figures could rise, as they usually do in such circumstances) and it is quite likely that it will affect other countries as it moves along.
Such disasters are not only not predictable but also beyond the ability of human beings to keep at bay. In light of the conditions in Japan today, the one lesson we learn is that populations in the coastal areas can be asked to shift inland when intimations of a tsunami are there. There is forever a sense of fatalism about matters beyond our control; and yet we must do what we can to save those not already claimed by the waves.
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