For a joyous Eid

After a month of abstinence, the nation is set to celebrate the biggest festival of Muslims around the world. Ramadan is about teaching us empathy for those less fortunate and help us develop ourselves to be better human beings. As Eid approaches, let us take stock of our learning and our short comings, and with the joy of day, also engage in introspection.

Like every year, in the run up to Eid, we witnessed blatantly unreligious practices by traders hiking up prices. We also saw repeat of overloading of road and river transport vehicles and reckless driving leading to unnecessary deaths of holidaymakers. Only yesterday, in the mad rush of traffic, at least 17 people were killed when a truck with holidaymakers skidded off a road in Rangpur.

By now, the capital city is empty of its inhabitants. But as the holidays will draw to a close, we will again see a rush of people getting back to Dhaka. During the last Eid holidays, we reported that at least 265 people died accidents on roads, waterways and railways in just 12 days. Let's hope the authorities take precautions this time so that in the predictable rush, no lives are lost. We urge that passengers, too, give priority to safety over haste, and the authorities put ensure safety on the roads.

Within the last one month we witnessed with horror the burning of indigenous villages in Langadu and the countless deaths due to landslides in Rangamati. In our celebration, let us not forget about those affected and those who are passing the days in grief. After all, the spirit of Ramadan is embodied in empathy. Let each of us reach out to help them, and take stand that such avoidable incidents are not repeated.

We wish our readers and well-wishers Eid Mubarak!