The government’s decision to increase fuel prices is a slap in the faces of ordinary people. In the past few years, we witnessed pandemic-induced poverty and how Covid-19 created an entire population of new poor in Bangladesh. Families had to cut crucial household spending and use up savings to survive. Food, gas, electricity, rent, bus fare, schools, medicine - every single thing that is essential for us to live, simply but with dignity, has gone up in price. Yet, instead of handling this crisis and trying to diffuse the pressure that is slowly choking us, the government has demonstrated its apathy for ordinary people and only made things worse. It’s not enough to invest in so many projects if they are not going to try to make the people’s lives better.

Nazma Sultana

Shantinagar, Dhaka