Road rage faces student spirit

ROAD rage in Bangladesh is not new. And not new is death due to road rage. The new phenomenon is the student spirit has stood against road rage. To the students, life matters.
A movement against road rage has recently been carried on by the students in Dhaka. They stood for life. And they stood against disregard to life.
It was anarchy in a part of roads. The students opposed that anarchy. It was dominance of lumpen culture and practice in a part of roads. The students opposed that part of the lumpen culture and practice. The students standing for life sent a powerful message to all concerned or to-be-concerned. They served society — a thankful job.
Total inconsideration to ordinary people is not new in profit-powered economy. There is no scope for the Bangladesh economy to go ‘awry’ of this path — ignore the interest of ordinary people.
Roads are one profit-friendly area in a profit-driven economy. The consequence: the people passing the paths — millions in number every day — pay price heavily. Profit-hungry roads turn cruel under the mastership of crudely-earned capital. All, an entire society — from tax payers to tax controllers, from petty traders to politicians, from day-labourer, private car driver and driver’s daughter of to film director, from pupil to policeman, from children to octogenarian — turn victims of this arrogance-filled neo-capital.
‘Lion’s share’ in the death-market on Bangladesh roads is of the ordinary people, and especially of the poor. A look into class composition of the deaths in road accidents shows the fact. Mostly, the dead in road accidents are low-earning members of society. The affected families are in the lower strata of society. Is it that the road deaths love the low-earning people?
And, strangely, it is the ordinary people who collectively pay the most part for the roads. It is the ordinary people who keep the wheels of profit running on the roads. It is the fact seen from any angle: whether from the angle of source of profit gathered from roads or from the angle of payments made by the public.
It is a strange ratio: death market on roads and payment for roads! The ordinary people are the biggest payers in terms of life and in terms of money. Or, they make payment with their money and they are paid back by their lives taken away. It seems the more the ordinary people pay with money the more they are paid back with death!
The stories of road deaths or deaths under wheels, in any way one likes to name the deaths, are known to all. Media reports are evidences. It has many descriptions: high speed, reckless driving, mechanical failure, damaged road, broken bridge railings, rules ignored, overburdened either with passengers or with goods, fatigued driver, inefficiency, lack of training, and a few more including role of organisations claiming to be unions. A deeper look will find wrong design, lax in enforcement, and super-greed — scoop most possible money within shortest possible time. A further look will find management problem. A further look will find disregard life.
Problem is not with the transport labour. Nor is the problem the owner. The same labour will behave in a different way, in a responsible way, in a considerate way in a different circumstance, in a different atmosphere. Labour is not anti-people. Nor it is killer-friendly. Labour has no contradiction with the student community, not with citizens. There is no reason to consider labour anti-student, anti-public. A labour-student contradiction only serves that part of capital, which is in an anarchic spree.
The same owner will behave in a different way in another situation. Owners go for money all over the world. But that does not mean that they are motivated to kill.
It is a circumstance — amalgamation of many factors — that creates a situation with particular tilt. A circumstance grows in strength and overwhelms all around. Road rage, to put it in a simple way, has, thus, grown brutal, taking lives, many lives, lives of ordinary people. It has taken an anarchic appearance.
Road rage is spread over, broadly, all around the country. A classification of the spread out problem will find — village paths tax lives least; lazy roads are lazy in driving death; the more the speed the more the death, the more the power the more the disregard. And, it is the poorer the weaker.
It is a mismatched reality with all disproportions: the poor, the powerful, the speedier, the disregard, the rules, the slack.
These are known to all. These are old observations. These are tiring narrations. These are clichés.
The anarchic situation does not help politicians. Neither does it help production. Ultimately, its the people that suffer, it is production that gets hampered. And, politicians face awkward situation with possibility of deterioration, a serious deterioration, which opens path to further play by others.
The new development is the student spirit — standing for life, defending life. It is anchored in the history of student activism in Bangladesh. The history begins from the days of colonised Bangladesh: Students riding revolutionary road to overthrow colonial rulers. The days under the Pakistan rule blazed with student activism. The independent Bangladesh also found that the student community is not short of activism and martyrs.
All these student activism conveyed messages. The messages were noticed by a group while ignored by another. Lost was the ignorant group.
Student organisations were the organisers in all student activism during the Pakistan period. The school students’ movement opposing a book — Pakistan, Desh O Krishti – in the post-1969 uprising days also had indirect or distant presence of student organisations.
The movement, generally identified as desh o krishti andolin (movement), was significant as it was opposing the ideology the state was formally trying to impose on young learners. The Pakistan state had to retreat. The book, prescribed for the secondary level, was withdrawn. A few months later, the Bengalis stood for their liberation through an armed struggle, which was widely joined in by students from middle and lower strata of society.
The Bangladesh students gained trust and love of the Bengali people through their years of activism since 1948. The activism centred, basically and broadly, on people’s interests. A part of this love and trust gathered rust resulting from a number of mal-activism or counter-activism — a loss for people’s interest, but a gain for anti-people camp.
The anti-road rage movement bared parts of a reality encompassing the state and people. There was the question of responsiveness of the students and the state machine and attitude of the people. The students’ response was instant. Parts of the state responded very quickly; and the response was positive. Hostility to each other was absent as the state machine was not standing opposed to the protesting students, unusual signals from both sides, which need to be deciphered.
A major question remains to be solved: the role of student organisations. The question carries within it a few more questions, answer to which will reflect the state of the overall and of different parts of student activism. Any observer will look into the outburst: its speed and extent, and the element powering it. Student organisations can take responsibility to stop all possibilities of deteriorating to anarchy. These organisations can stop play by provocateurs with some other agenda.
Anarchy will harm all — the people, production, political atmosphere and politicians. The move for safe roads will get harmed with anarchy. And the student spirit vibrant on Dhaka roads will lose face if anarchy sets in. The honour the protesting students from schools and colleges are gaining will get lost if anarchy steps in. So, that should not be allowed.

A Facebook post on quota mobilisation

THERE is no reason to imagine that a single Facebook post usually carries possibilities of raising any question on the quota mobilization — students demanding reforms in quota system in government jobs, which with its long preparatory phase has been going on for weeks in Bangladesh.
But the Facebook post carries the possibility — questions and serious questions, meanings and serious meanings, implications and serious implications. The reasons: the Facebook post was from, as has been claimed in a number of media reports, the US embassy in Dhaka; and, the developments are in Bangladesh, the country passing through an important phase in its history of inter-state relations.
A New Age report by the daily’s diplomatic correspondent said: ‘The United States on Monday criticised attacks on peaceful demonstrations of university students and observed that such attacks were against founding principles of Bangladesh.
‘ “The outrageous attacks on peaceful demonstrations by university students, the future leaders of Bangladesh’s proud democracy, is counter to the founding principles upon which our countries are established”, the US embassy said in a statement published on its Facebook page.
‘The US government “stands together in solidarity with those exercising their fundamental democratic rights — freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to engage in peaceful protest”, it said.’ (‘US expresses solidarity with peaceful student movement’, July 10, 2018, p 1, Dhaka)
The Asian Age, the Daily Ittefaq, and other Dhaka dailies, and Bdnews24.com, a Dhaka-based news portal, also carried report on the US embassy Facebook post.
The news portal said in an earlier report by its senior correspondent: ‘The Embassy of Germany in Dhaka has said that it has with “great concern” followed the “brutal attacks” on peaceful protesters during the last few days.
‘“Freedom of speech and freedom of opinion are constitutional rights of the citizens in this country’, it said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
‘“Attacks and repression aimed at denying these rights undermine the rule of law and run counter to the founding principles of Bangladesh”, it added.’ (Bdnews24.com, ‘German Embassy in Dhaka concerned over attacks on quota protesters’, July 5, 2018)
The Facebook posts, one type of voice in the sphere of public diplomacy, are related to an ongoing mobilisation by a part of society and the mobilization is related to greater society, public life, public policy and government. Consequently, political parties from different positions have got involved with varying extent or have expressed respective positions on the issue. The issue is stirring debate among at least a part, large or small, of society. The state machine has so far dealt and is dealing with the issue and the mobilisation in its way. The way of dealing is also an issue of debate.
There are the need and scope to continue with the debates on the issue and the way of dealing with the issue. Moreover, there are need and scope to express reaction to the issue and the way of dealing with the issue.
But the reactions or expressions of opinion of diplomatic missions add an element to the perspective of the entire development. The added element is vital. It is vital from the stand point of the mobilisation, from the stand point of the other related parties, and from the stand point of countries getting involved in their way.
There is no doubt that the countries’ reactions or expressions of opinion are a product of a deep observation, review of all related questions, assessment of an entire situation and all relations, and relating these to the concerned country’s policy, geopolitical strategy, etc.
Words, and even punctuation marks do not go without weighing in diplomacy. Style, mode and timing of expression do not go without examination and re-examination in diplomacy. The process begins prior to expressions and is continued with in its post-phase.
Similarly, other countries do not keep their eyes and ears closed to the expressions already made by others. In this Bangladesh case, it is normal that especially the Russian, Chinese, Indian, UK, EU and Pakistan press and other officers will take the expressions/reactions into notice. The Bangladesh offices concerned will also take into consideration the reactions/expressions.
At the same time, quarters in Bangladesh — political parties, student organisations, organisations concerned with and related to society and economy will review the reactions/expressions. This will help these organisations review respective positions, identify relations and characters related to the issue. Any or all of them have the liberty to look at the issue from a narrow angle or with a wider perspective, to have an isolated view or a view with all its connections.
Considering these aspects, it can be claimed that the Facebook posts have helped take away a few confusions, have helped identify a few positions, have provided an opportunity to review respective positions. Thence, in one way, these were like friends or teachers — positive or negative.
One can compare the reactions to other incidents, can relate these to other developments within society and outside the border of the country — in a few other capital cities. One can relate these to other diplomatic developments related to Bangladesh.
Even, one can compare these with incidents in other countries — adjacent, near or far away. The incidents may be similar or dissimilar. The countries may be Afghanistan or Syria, India or Venezuela, Pakistan or some other country.
If one likes, a look-back — leaf through related history — can be done. The history may be of this land — Bangladesh since August 14, 1947. This land witnessed many student movements. Most of those were democratic in all senses, not in a fake form. Most of the Bangladesh student movements were anti-imperialist; and they never cajoled imperialism; they never denied, discarded, satirised and humiliated sacrifices made for the country, for the people.
One can recall the students protesting imperialism’s Vietnam bombing —sorties and sorties of B-52s dropping Napalm Bombs, carpet bombing crop lands and communities in North Vietnam. Martyrs arose from that protest. Memories of those martyrs are alive to many, and have faded from some.
The Facebook posts thus carry many messages and signals much.