Plane crash and the delirious ramblings of the senseless

Opinion

In the fifty-four years of independence, after taking one step forward, the competition to take five steps back has begun. Like a snake with five legs, there is a grand plan to take no one back without any regard. We are no longer moving forward like this. People’s needs are not being looked after, people’s needs are not being identified.

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The events of 1982. General Ershad seized power and first converted the police stations into upgraded police stations and later into upazilas. At that time, the police stations in Sylhet were inaugurated by the then Chief of the Navy and Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator, Rear Admiral MA Khan, a man from Sylhet. Mahbub Ali Khan, known as MA Khan, is Tarique Rahman’s father-in-law. At that time, Shalla Police Station in Sunamganj was declared an upgraded police station. The inaugurator was Mahbub Ali Khan. He went to Shalla. He unveiled the plaque of the upgraded police station. He addressed a public meeting. At the end, he asked the people if they had any demands. A UP chairman from the area demanded the allocation of a graveyard and a crematorium.

Mahbub Ali Khan was very angry, thinking that he was being mocked. But the DC of Sylhet, the SDO of Sunamganj, and the regional military administrator of Sylhet together explained that the Shalla area was a completely floating area. It was covered in water almost all year round. Just as in winter, when people die during the rainy season, there is no soil available for burial, nor is there a dry place to burn the dead bodies. As a result, there was no choice but to float the bodies of all Hindus and Muslims in water. This time Mahbub Ali Khan understood the situation and made arrangements.

Notice that the people of Shalla did not ask for rice and cloth, they asked for a grave and a cremation ground. It does not seem that they were asking for this only from the center of religious feelings. Basically, in the reality of that time, this was their most important demand and need. Although it seemed like a mockery to the highly educated Mahbub Ali Khans, the people were telling them what they really wanted.

The reason for saying this is – human needs and demands. There is a short story by Zahir Raihan called ‘The Need of Time’. I am not going to talk about the short story. However, the need of time is clearly indicated in the word pair.

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In a civilized country, based on research, people of any area, class, or profession find out what they need and when, and bring it to their doorsteps before they even make a demand. But ours has been a journey in reverse.

The reason why the students of Uttara Milestone School and College, our children, died. Who is responsible for this?

When this Milestone building was built, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina objected to giving permission. The objection to the permission was mainly due to the location of the airport. But the students at that time took to the streets demanding permission for the building and returned home after achieving their demands. What will those who used these students answer now?

There are more questions. Why would the Air Force train fighter jets in a densely populated area like Dhaka city? Was the aircraft checked to see if it was even fit to fly?

The words increase. Why is the Navy headquarters in Dhaka city? Why are Dhaka Cantonment and BGB headquarters in the capital’s Bukchir? Why is the Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Department in Dhaka city? Why are Dhaka University, BUET, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Textile University, Jagannath University, all of these located inside Dhaka city? Why are garment factories, leather factories, etc. in the heart of the capital? Why are all the ‘good’ in the country located only in the capital city? Why are divisional cities, district cities and suburbs not given importance?

There are nursery schools, KG schools, kindergarten schools in the alleys of Dhaka city. There is also a large presence of Bengali medium and English medium schools. And there are madrasas, orphanages, Qawmi, Cadet, etc. The city of Dhaka is full.

However, the state should completely nationalize the education and health sectors, 100% nationalize them. This would give people a lot of certainty and would bring greed, corruption, etc. under control.

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But who thinks about these necessities? Why would they think? No matter how much they think, at the end of the day they will be branded as fascists!

Let me tell you another story. The incident of the first week of 1972. The Indian Sports Ministry wrote a letter to Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed. How can it help? In response, Tajuddin Ahmed wrote that there is no need for sports equipment at the moment. Now we need paddy and jute seeds. If possible, please help by providing these.

The Indian Sports Ministry was shocked to hear the answer. What can I say! They thought Tajuddin would send a long list of sports equipment like football, cricket, etc. But no, in terms of reality, Tajuddin Ahmed said the right thing.

He could have said that we need football, lots of football. My sons are unemployed now, I can’t give them jobs. So by playing sports, we will stay away from bad addictions and our body will be healthy. But no, Tajuddin Ahmed, realizing the reality of the time, wanted rice and jute seeds, not football, because that was what was needed at that time.

And if it were Yunus Sahib, he would have said, “Give us cricket equipment, give us football, give us chess, Ludo, these are all that is needed.” Because he doesn’t know when what is needed. That’s why he has turned the whole of Bangladesh into a football field. But they themselves are not able to play, they have not been able to achieve the desire to play. The Americans are playing, the Chinese are playing, the French are playing, the Indians and Pakistanis are playing…

And we keep humming and singing – that’s what we think about when we’re going to play a game…

I pray for the eternal peace of the departed souls of the deceased students, pilots and others of Uttara Milestone School and College. I pray to the Almighty for the speedy recovery of the injured.

-Ali Shariati Ubach