The ordinary working people of this country endure unimaginable labour. Look at the farmers, textile workers, auto-rickshaw pullers, rickshaw pullers, vegetable vendors, hawkers, fishermen, traffic-bound peddlers, children’s toy sellers, tea garden labourers, Dalit Bede communities and members of the third gender who beg – the breadth of occupations is astonishing.
Why do thousands of youth scream in despair? How many accidents occur? How many women take their own lives? How many dreams are destroyed in fire in an instant? How many people migrate from villages to the capital in search of a slightly better life? How many die as domestic servants in the Mediterranean Sea, in the jungles of Thailand, or in the deserts of the Middle East? How many people run in the blazing sun to reach a TCB truck in traffic? The deprived and oppressed of the country have great expectations from your rule.
My humble plea is this: in times of suffering, pain and deprivation, people must feel that the government is present, accessible and responsive.
*Sanjib Drong is a columnist and cultural activist
*The views expressed are the author’s own