Eleven deaths: who is responsible?
S Sultana, Department of Geography and Environment, Jahangirnagar University
After hearing and watching the heart breaking news of the tragic deaths of eleven bright students, I feel an urge to write a few words about this as a teacher of a university and also a mother of a child who graduated in architecture from Khulna University a few years back. The news of the tragic deaths reached the parents at a time when they were waiting for their dearest children to come back home after finishing their final examinations. Being a mother I know how many sleepless nights the parents have passed. I cannot but sob for them.Some questions arise in my mind. Was it only their fate that led to their death? Could we shrug off our responsibility? Did we have enough precautionary measures at the beach? Did the tourist department take enough measures to safeguard the tourists? This is a remote beach where few people remain around to warn the tourists or to take emergency steps to rescue victims. Was there any watchtower or a sufficient number of coastguards around? The tourism department should have taken all these measures before allowing people to visit such places. How do the authorities ignore their responsibility ? What about the authorities of Khulna University or the Department of Architecture? How could they allow these students to move on their own without any supervising teacher?
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