The deaths of two people in separate road incidents in Dhaka this week have exposed a long-standing problem that goes beyond reckless driving or unfortunate accidents: The persistence of a culture in which accountability too often comes after tragedy, if at all.
24-year-old construction worker Mehedi Hasan Mir was killed by a car that ran over him on a footpath, with a 16-year-old detained for the incident. In a separate case, 50-year-old Meherun Begum with hearing disabilities was killed by a DNCC garbage truck while collecting recyclable materials.
These cases underline just how vulnerable ordinary citizens remain in spaces that should be safe. They also raise questions about who is responsible when vehicles are operated without adequate safeguards, when drivers fail to exercise due care, or when public authorities do not sufficiently protect people working or living around their operations.
We have seen too many incidents followed by familiar promises of investigation and action, only for public attention to move on. That cannot be allowed to become the end of the process.
Every death on the road must lead to a credible investigation, clear determination of responsibility and, where warranted, meaningful legal consequences.
Accountability must apply equally, regardless of wealth, family connections, or institutional position. The same principle must govern public bodies such as city corporations; government vehicles and private cars alike must be subject to the law.
Ending impunity also requires prevention through stricter enforcement, safer vehicle operations, proper driver training, better monitoring, and protection for pedestrians and vulnerable workers.
A city cannot call itself safe when people can lose their lives simply by resting on a footpath or collecting recyclable materials.
Justice must be ensured for these deaths -- and the countless other similar tragedies that have plagued our streets for too long.
More importantly, however, the system must be made into one that ensures that fewer families are left seeking this kind of justice in the first place.