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Once again our students take to the streets

Published : Tuesday, 30 November, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 602

Demanding for safer roads and half fare in public transports, our school and college students have once again taken to the streets. Many students were seen checking driving licences of drivers, mostly public buses.  The traffic on the road and surrounding areas came to a halt due to their protests and voluntary participation. Moreover, several hundred students of different colleges gathered in front of Rapa Plaza on Dhanmondi's road 27 at noon and put up barricades on the road to press home their demand last Sunday.

However, the recent protests brewing up against the backdrop of the death of a college student and transport fare hike brings back bitter memories of 2018.

First of all, as far as the country's road safety is concerned, little has changed for the better since the countrywide student protests widely held in 2018. And the government's traffic controlling authorities responsible for ensuring road safety and rule of law in our roads have manifestly failed to positively respond to the protests.

Second, the government's policy makers coupled with public and private transport authorities must have ensured that our students were spared from bearing the brunt of fare hike.

Now that our students have hit the roads again, it is time for our government's policy makers and traffic authorities to indulge in serious soul-searching why they are repeatedly failing to ensure road safety? And also why the hike in transport fare affecting our students?

Nevertheless, students on Sunday tabled a nine-point demand to press home their mandate over ensuring public safety on roads and half fare on public transports in the country.

Their nine-point charter includes ensuring justice and compensation for victims of road accidents, issuing a gazette notification to provide half-passes for students on public transports, and ensuring safety for women on public transports.

The protesting students also announced to block the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) office if the government failed to issue the gazette within November 30, today.

The point, however, almost every day, lives of our students and ordinary citizens are cut short on the roads due to reckless driving and poorly managed manual traffic system. But it seems nothing concerns our authorities. Therefore, we are in complete agreement with the fresh spate of protests. At the same time, we are against any type of irresponsible and uncontrolled violent protests - hampering regular commuting in the city.

As our country continues to develop economically while gaining more global recognitions, it is of utmost importance that road safety is given its due priority. It will take some time for the safety situation to improve, but a journey of a thousand steps begins with a one for a bigger and better change to take place.

Getting rammed by a bus or a truck is the least we expect happening to our students and citizens.






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