Agony of an expatriate
We (myself and my wife) were on a holiday visit to Bangladesh for 4 weeks recently. Dhaka was the main place of our stay. On 19 January 2008, we intended to go to Barisal by coach at 8:00am from the bus stand opposite Notre Dame College. We took a rickshaw from Segun Bagicha at 7-30am. We turned left to Topkhana Road opposite Press Club. As the rickshaw came near the middle of Toyenbee Circular Road, the heart of Dhaka commercial zone, a blue taxi came suddenly from behind on the left side of our rickshaw and a criminal from the passengers' seat grabbed the large brown handbag of my wife and pulled hard. My wife cried out for help and the handbag was snatched away by the fast running taxi. I was seated on the right side of the rickshaw witnessing this terrible robbery at broad daylight helplessly. The handbag was pulled so forcibly that we were about to fall from the rickshaw. My wife was shocked to tears by this horrible experience. There was no police or Rab or anyone else to help us. The street was calm and clear. Our holiday mood was shattered by fear and shock. We approached the bus terminal and were told by the passengers that we were lucky that we were not harmed. This kind of incident was said to be common in Dhaka during morning hours or night. If we resisted further, we could be knifed or shot. It is not safe to travel from bus terminals or Sadar Ghat in the morning before office hours or late evening. Streets at that time are quiet and clear without any police or Rab patrols for exploitation by the professional criminals. Within 14 days of this incident, two murders took place in Dhaka .
There is the urgent need for proper police patrol at vulnerable points where the criminals are at liberty to operate so freely. We love our motherland. We come to see our relatives. This is not the experience we should have.
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