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Dhaka ﻿Thursday﻿ ﻿March﻿ ﻿26﻿, ﻿2020﻿, chaitra 12 , 1426 BS

Revisiting the ethos of equality on this Independence Day

Let us pledge to protect the poor and vulnerable
In the 49 years since independence, Bangladesh has lived through and tackled many natural and man-made disasters—from famines to floods, from industrial disasters to autocratic dictatorships—but this is the first time in our history that we are facing a crisis of such disastrous proportions. The threat posed by the coronavirus is particularly acute for the poor and marginalised populations of this country, who can neither afford the luxury of “social isolation” and “self-quarantine” nor have access to healthcare facilities if and when they fall ill. As the country moves towards a lockdown, what will happen to the day labourers and workers who live from hand to mouth and who, in the absence of their daily wages, may simply starve to death? What of the factory workers who are looking at an uncertain future because some of their owners are claiming they cannot pay wages on time because of cancelled orders from foreign buyers? When even upper- and middle-income groups are struggling to access healthcare and dying from lack of treatment, what hope is there for low-income groups who are denied basic services to which they are constitutionally entitled, even under ordinary circumstances?
This Independence Day, as we pay respect to our martyrs and freedom fighters, we must also remember that this country was built on the ethos of equity and equality and that socialism was one of its foundational pillars. Today, more than ever, we must pledge to protect the weak and the vulnerable, and both the public and private sectors must come together and prioritise the health, food security and well-being of the masses. In a welcoming move, the government has announced it will roll out a massive rescue package for the low-income group, businesses and industries. However, we urge them to act urgently and ensure that the funds reach those most in need of government safety nets. We must guarantee that no citizen in Bangladesh will starve to death because of the impending lockdown on our country. We must ensure that government healthcare facilities in each upazila have designated and adequate services to treat the poor.
The impending crisis has laid bare our economic and social vulnerabilities and reminded us how far we still are from our independence leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s vision of a just and equal Bangladesh. We must all rise to the occasion now, as we did in 1971, in our collective fight against the pandemic.

Declaration of a general holiday gave people the wrong message

The govt must take stringent measures to prevent Covid-19 spread
We are worried at the way hundreds of people left the capital after the government announced a ten-day general holiday starting from today till April 4. Although the government announced closure of all public and private offices for the same period as part of its efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19, and also asked people to stay home, the declaration of a “holiday” could be self-defeating. As hundreds of city-dwellers boarded buses, trains and launches to go to their village homes, we fear that this could further help spread the virus throughout the country. The rush of home-bound people was so much on Tuesday that the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation was forced to carry only passengers, instead of vehicles, on ferries on the Shimulia-Kathalbari route in the Padma river. And all this happened due to a lack of foresight and proper planning on the part of the government to handle the spread of the pandemic.
What the government should have done instead was declare a medical emergency, raise awareness among the public about the importance of staying in their homes, and publicise the WHO directives about travelling and personal hygiene, including washing hands properly and frequently, as much as possible.
The lack of proper planning was evident from the very beginning of the crisis when the government failed to quarantine the returnees from foreign countries, at the beginning of this month. And even after some Covid-19 cases were confirmed by the IEDCR, necessary steps to contain the virus were not taken. There has always been a lack of coordination among different government bodies and experts in dealing with the situation. Declaring a general holiday without clear-cut directives regarding social distancing and staying home was not a wise move. We think a medical emergency, not a general holiday, should have been announced to contain the spread of this highly contagious and deadly virus.
However, there is still so much the government can do in this regard. From now on, it should take every step by consulting and coordinating with the health experts and all the agencies concerned. It should also make all the committees formed at the district and upazila levels effective so that they can raise awareness even among the most vulnerable section of the society. And if people do not take “social distancing” seriously, the government should also consider imposing more stringent measures in the country.