Meet demands of the agitating students

The ongoing student movement demanding road safety has been welcomed by everyone. It came in the wake of years of unsuccessful attempts and policy failures by the government to control the traffic system and rein in the chaotic and corruption-ridden transport sector. Every day, we have reports of fatal incidents in some part of the country because of unfit or unregistered vehicles and incompetent drivers who are either underage or unlicensed. There was totally no accountability in the sector. The deaths of two students recently marked a tipping point for the aggrieved student community, who were bolstered by support from the general public to launch a protest that has rocked the government. For some days, the students took up the task of traffic management, checking the licenses of drivers, registration of unfit vehicles and bringing some semblance of discipline in the roads which were previously unthinkable.

But this cannot go on forever, however noble the purpose, and the government must build its capacity to manage traffic and the transport sector itself. I think what the government should do, instead of taking piecemeal initiatives to quell the situation, is meet all the demands of the students, which are legitimate and reflect the aspirations of the general people. The transport owners and workers shouldn't be given any chance to play dirty politics with such a movement. 

Khondaker Shahirul Islam

Gulshan, Dhaka