Parties should wake up to deaths on road
Photo: STAR
How to start this letter is difficult, but let's just say, 57 killed, yes 57 killed in 1 week. From your articles in The Daily Star from 8th January to 15th January 2013, 57 Bangladeshis have been killed. They were not killed in an industrial disaster, political unrest or severe human rights issues which would spark debate and outcry. All of them, men, women and children, were probably just going around their normal everyday lives. The reasons for their deaths are many, political, financial, education, ignorance and sometimes just plain lack of respect for human lives. There is only one thing that links the 57 people, they were all killed in one week on Bangladesh's roads!! It is happening every minute of every day across the country. Going by statistics from various national and international organisations, this was a quiet week, but try telling that to any of their family members. When will the citizens of this country insist their laws and rules makers, that they deserve to go around their everyday lives safely and not in fear of becoming another minor statistic in the press? Bangladesh has many, many pressing issues, I totally agree and understand this, but huge improvements have to be made in the highways and road safety standards for everyone to benefit in Bangladesh's growing economic climate. I had a letter printed in DS in August 2012 (Road safety in Bangladesh) and to my surprise, all replies agreed standards were poor and rules non-existent. But to say “just live with it, it's Bangladesh†shows what the citizens are up against. This subject affects all people in Bangladesh who try to go from A to B by any means, it can't be ignored. All political parties need to address these issues for the benefit of its citizens before it escalates out of control.
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