What do such death and destruction indicate

Movements and protests take place in many countries of the world. Then police arrested the protesters and send them to jail; But nowhere do so many people die, nowhere do so many public and private property, cars and houses are torched, offices and courts are vandalised. Why does this happen in our country? Don’t we love our country?

The recent violent incidents over quota reform issue are unfortunate and those shouldn’t happen in Bangladesh. The government here in Bangladesh wanted the quota system to be reformed. The students wanted the same. In this case, the principle position of both the government and the students is the same. So who benefits by the unfortunate incidents of firing and so much bloodshed? What can be gained by destroying so many assets, so many cars and houses, so many offices, courts, metrorails, data centers, etc.? The country has lost many lives and many things, and we have to pay a high price for this. Many parents dream that their children will grow up to be human beings, become the wealth of the country, brighten the face of the country and take the country to another height; But what happened?

We have undertaken the project of building digital Bangladesh for our new generation, but what do such deaths and destruction indicate? Can people's grief and anger be reduced by sending the young people to jail?

We have earned bad reputation worldwide due to the incident and people around the world are stunned thinking why had such situation arised. Recently I represented Bangladesh in the 'ASEAN Regional Forum' (ARF) in Laos where about half a dozen foreign ministers of major countries confronted me with these questions. Bangladesh is a role model for development and smart Bangladesh. But, the authorities failed to tackle the student movement smartly. Why? What is the reason behind the mishap?

Our trump card is our economic development. This time, our economy also suffered a big blow in the quota reform movement. Everyone is questioning whether this development has not brought ease in people's lives. Did the people express their pent-up anger and harassment through the quota movement? Do the rising commodity prices, rampant corruption, bureaucratic harassment in every job, mismanagement in banking, looting, smuggling of wealth and money abroad, police harassment and social discrimination, lack of accountability etc. have made people's lives miserable? So after all the development, even after the completion of so many mega projects, there is unrest, anger and unrest in people's minds!

Jamaat-Shibir-BNP will definitely wait for the opportunity. But why did we give them this opportunity? In fact, people do not seem to like delaying and pushing and exaggerating decisions.

Now it is necessary for the nation and the leadership to come out of a blame mindset and openly introspect, and take initiatives accordingly. Only then will we know the cause of this tragic and unimaginable explosion and make the right decision. This is a big challenge for the nation and the leadership.

But we are lucky, we have a leader who is dedicated to the welfare of people in the face of all temptations, all fears, all hatreds, all pressures. However, more engagement and communication with the public is needed to get the right information (not hype) and the right recommendations.

Did they not realize that we have so many intelligence agencies and naturally there will be so much destruction, arson? Why?

I feel it is our responsibility to take good care of those who died or injured. We should launch a massive campaign especially in schools and colleges across the country and on social media so that no one destroys the country's wealth in the future.

Dr. AK Abdul Momen: Member of Parliament, Former Foreign Minister, and president of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.