Students of different educational institutes shout slogans demanding road safety and justice for the death of a Notre Dame student in a road accident, at Noor Hossain Chattar in Dhaka's Gulistan on Thursday, November 25, 2021 Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
As if the citizens of the world didn’t have enough to worry about.
Starving conditions in Yemen, migrants ready to die rather than stop trying to reach safer sanctuaries in Europe, a looming disaster in Afghanistan, the Rohingya debacle -- the list grows and goes on.
These don’t resonate any more, don’t raise outrage. It is one of the harsh realities of everyday life. Essentials’ prices have gone up around the world, prompted by shortages in farm labourers, the unbelievable hoarding, and the penchant of increasing individual profits.
Increasingly governments find themselves ham-handed. Trillions of dollars of stimulus in terms of grants and loans later, economies have failed to kick-start.
The so-called attempt to stabilize fuel prices has brought OPEC and others face to face. Opec are defying calls to raise output to keep prices stable. That’s been countered by a US-led initiative of releasing strategic reserves. Where the two meet is anyone’s guess.
Putting food on the table has never been as difficult as the current day. Family budgets have been drastically restructured, with consumption having been radically changed. Government failure to prioritize what is important has been rudely exposed.
The traditionally-tested methods of curbing costs, indeed reducing them, have been abandoned. Spending sprees, especially on projects that no longer qualify as essential, continue unabated.
The “human” in “humanity” no longer drives the agenda for all the tall talk of fair-play. Concepts of fair-trade, fair-prices, and corporate social responsibility have taken a nosedive.
Much before the pandemic, companies previously strutting in the publicized view that fair-prices were being paid to manufacturers in less well-off production centres glibly stated they could no longer ensure such practices due to viability.
In a sleight-of-hand, worker rights of fair-wages were no longer important. Prices of products were.
Death and deprivation don’t stir the imagination. Rights groups have gone into hibernation as they too struggle to balance their own books. There’s little difference between the horrific drowning of 27 migrants in the English Channel and the tragic demise of the young student of Notre Dame College run over by a dumpster truck in Dhaka.
In all cases, the crass negligence of governments to face up to realities comes to the fire. The United Kingdom has had ministers huddled in a Cobra committee meeting, not to dwell on security threats, but almost as if to highlight the seriousness with which the migrant issue was being addressed.
There hasn’t been any such huddle in Bangladesh to try out mitigation efforts to reduce the growing number of road mishaps. The daily toll no longer moves conscience. There’s either unwillingness or an inability to have a show-down with the mafia-like transport sector that continues with impunity to defy all norms of acceptable behaviour.
They hold the trump card. From transportation of goods and people to large scale employment, they present a hornets’ nest that cannot be disturbed.
A new law, promised after school children poured onto streets in an innovative protest campaign, hasn’t been implemented even after passage in parliament. If there were doubts in the first place, the 108 listed items of grievance presented by the transport sector has effectively scuttled the initiative.
Vehicles grossly short of fitness, driving licenses either not renewed or non-existent, and no fare adjustments in eight years were ignored and continue to be.
It’s all about getting the economy back on track. The easy way out has been the growing corruption in every sector and section of society. There is no visible or practical solution for the citizens to overcome the demands of such corruption. Pay up or go home is the new motto.
The fascinating tentacles of corruption have metamorphosed in ways so as to question its definition. The age-old nepotism and other similar circumstances don’t do justice.
Geo-politics is one high-sounding term doing the rounds. Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours has made an appearance after years of hibernation. It’s all about creating a weight of support to carry on with an agenda.
The collusion between business and government and the interest-seeking groups in between has overtaken corruption in terms of nefarious purposes.
So much so, it’s the trumpeted way ahead.
Mahmudur Rahman is a writer, columnist, broadcaster, and communications specialist.
Where is the ‘human’ in humanity?
As if the citizens of the world didn’t have enough to worry about.
Starving conditions in Yemen, migrants ready to die rather than stop trying to reach safer sanctuaries in Europe, a looming disaster in Afghanistan, the Rohingya debacle -- the list grows and goes on.
These don’t resonate any more, don’t raise outrage. It is one of the harsh realities of everyday life. Essentials’ prices have gone up around the world, prompted by shortages in farm labourers, the unbelievable hoarding, and the penchant of increasing individual profits.
Increasingly governments find themselves ham-handed. Trillions of dollars of stimulus in terms of grants and loans later, economies have failed to kick-start.
The so-called attempt to stabilize fuel prices has brought OPEC and others face to face. Opec are defying calls to raise output to keep prices stable. That’s been countered by a US-led initiative of releasing strategic reserves. Where the two meet is anyone’s guess.
Putting food on the table has never been as difficult as the current day. Family budgets have been drastically restructured, with consumption having been radically changed. Government failure to prioritize what is important has been rudely exposed.
The traditionally-tested methods of curbing costs, indeed reducing them, have been abandoned. Spending sprees, especially on projects that no longer qualify as essential, continue unabated.
The “human” in “humanity” no longer drives the agenda for all the tall talk of fair-play. Concepts of fair-trade, fair-prices, and corporate social responsibility have taken a nosedive.
Much before the pandemic, companies previously strutting in the publicized view that fair-prices were being paid to manufacturers in less well-off production centres glibly stated they could no longer ensure such practices due to viability.
In a sleight-of-hand, worker rights of fair-wages were no longer important. Prices of products were.
Death and deprivation don’t stir the imagination. Rights groups have gone into hibernation as they too struggle to balance their own books. There’s little difference between the horrific drowning of 27 migrants in the English Channel and the tragic demise of the young student of Notre Dame College run over by a dumpster truck in Dhaka.
In all cases, the crass negligence of governments to face up to realities comes to the fire. The United Kingdom has had ministers huddled in a Cobra committee meeting, not to dwell on security threats, but almost as if to highlight the seriousness with which the migrant issue was being addressed.
There hasn’t been any such huddle in Bangladesh to try out mitigation efforts to reduce the growing number of road mishaps. The daily toll no longer moves conscience. There’s either unwillingness or an inability to have a show-down with the mafia-like transport sector that continues with impunity to defy all norms of acceptable behaviour.
They hold the trump card. From transportation of goods and people to large scale employment, they present a hornets’ nest that cannot be disturbed.
A new law, promised after school children poured onto streets in an innovative protest campaign, hasn’t been implemented even after passage in parliament. If there were doubts in the first place, the 108 listed items of grievance presented by the transport sector has effectively scuttled the initiative.
Vehicles grossly short of fitness, driving licenses either not renewed or non-existent, and no fare adjustments in eight years were ignored and continue to be.
It’s all about getting the economy back on track. The easy way out has been the growing corruption in every sector and section of society. There is no visible or practical solution for the citizens to overcome the demands of such corruption. Pay up or go home is the new motto.
The fascinating tentacles of corruption have metamorphosed in ways so as to question its definition. The age-old nepotism and other similar circumstances don’t do justice.
Geo-politics is one high-sounding term doing the rounds. Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours has made an appearance after years of hibernation. It’s all about creating a weight of support to carry on with an agenda.
The collusion between business and government and the interest-seeking groups in between has overtaken corruption in terms of nefarious purposes.
So much so, it’s the trumpeted way ahead.
Mahmudur Rahman is a writer, columnist, broadcaster, and communications specialist.
Topics: