Revolution is not an apple that falls when ripe; you have to make it fall- Che Guevara
What this country has been experiencing in the last few days is the revolution that we all had been waiting for. Some often expressed the hope for a jolt, others, possibly harboured a desire for a shake-up in the back of their heads. Whatever our inner thoughts, we just saw it materialised.
For those, who had become cynical and began accepting the abnormal as the normal and, for those defeatists who had started spreading the pessimistic mantra: if you can’t beat them, then join them, here’s the time to rejig our beliefs.
No, to join them if you can’t beat them is never the formula for affirmative change! Never!
The young of Bangladesh have shown: you can rise up, rattler them and send terror to the hearts of those who have made the culture of vice a norm.
Not just a movement for safe roads
The common call for the protesters on the streets is for safe roads. After two college students were killed on the airport road, as a result of reckless bus drivers competing to get to the passenger spot first, it was natural to expect a public outrage.
But did anyone think that the sentiment would trigger a revolution?
It’s right to call this a revolution of ideals and values because this is not just against reckless driving, but against everything that has become toxic in our society.
This is the youth taking a vocal stand against the venal cycle of sycophancy and cronyism which affects every institution, making us into unctuous, ingratiating boot lickers of those with power.
When the student stopped the car of a minister for driving on the wrong lane, posted it on social media and, appealed to the minister’s sense of right and wrong to go to the correct side of the road, we felt that a new force had come into operation.
An entity which does not compromise with the wrong
When students clapped as water resources minister left his car because his driver did not have a licence, the nation joined them in approval and, when media plus defence car drivers could not show licences, these students took them to traffic sergeants to have cases lodged against them.
These youngsters with their untainted ideals have pointed to us the abhorrent practice of unlawful impunity that is granted to certain sections of society.
Reportedly, they have also stopped diplomatic cars to check drivers’ licence.
Bravo! No one is above the law, yellow plates do not give the right to feel sanctimonious.
If you are in Bangladesh, you must show the valid papers for driving. No more special preference.
An uncorrupted solidarity against social decay
The demand may be for safer roads but when students took the streets, stopped vehicles irrespective of whether it carried a flag or the logo of border guards or police, one thing became clear: this society is afflicted by a disease called blind power-worshipping.
Countless cars belonging to officials in government posts could not show valid papers and, in one case, a police officer’s bike was set on fire because he refused to produce his licence and, instead, assaulted students.
The fact is, he did not have a licence to show and wanted to get away with what has become a norm in society – delivering intimidating threats and creating an atmosphere of terror.
“Tumi jano ami ke? Do you know who I am?” Did not work

A driver of a defence force car told students asking to see his licence: the police never demand to see it; in reply, a young boy aptly shot out: “We are not police, we are revolutionaries inspired by truth.”
Too many times we have seen laws broken, regulations breached, norms flouted and general people exploited with the line: “Do you know who I am?”
This imperious statement fell flat on the face in front of a rising youth riding on ideals. For the teenagers, it didn’t matter who was standing before them as long as they followed the rule of the road.
The police cannot stop VIP cars that blow their terrifying horns and unceremoniously push aside others on the road; that’s why giving a hang to traffic rules had become normal.
This sense of ‘if don’t give a damn’ percolates to all other sections hence the drivers on the airport road had to audacity to race during morning hours.
On Dhaka streets, business magnates move with motorcades, baton-wielding guards who also follow the same pattern of creating a road-blitzkrieg.
These cultures have made ‘yield in front of power’ the common behaviour. Unfortunately, no one questioned the vulgar practices that seeped into our senses to force us into believing that anyone who can show power can get away with everything.
Sorry, the youth revolution has shattered that poisonous notion.
Suddenly, ‘Jano ami ke?’ sounds ludicrous.
Be a public servant with empathy
This demand for safe roads would never have taken the form of a mass uprising if the shipping minister had not made facetious remarks when journalists asked him about the perils of risky driving.
A public servant cannot say: an accident is not within the purview of today’s talks.
When people die on the road, it’s the responsibility of everyone to firmly renew their position for safe driving.
Let this incident be a wake-up call for all other ministers and public representatives.
This is not an illiterate country anymore; Bangladesh is now a tech-savvy nation where the young generation knows their rights and won’t stand to be hoodwinked.
We want a developed country, right? Well, with developed status also comes improved mindsets and a reformed social credo; one is inextricably linked to the other.
These undaunted young students have brought to the open festering flaws which have been corroding social values for too long.
The government has already started the motion to amend transport laws, punish the ones who were responsible for the accident and, this must be commended.
However, the entire youth upsurge actually made us aware of a putrid social phenomenon of fawning to those in power.
This faulty practice is the basis of a wide range of social aberrations, masqueraded under a make belief layer of hypocrisy.
Let’s all unite for safer roads plus a little ethics and, remember the immortal lines of Rabindranath Tagore, “Orey nobin, orey amar kacha, orey shobuj, orey obhuj, adhmorader gha mere tui bacha...”

Towheed Feroze is a News Editor at Bangla Tribune and teaches at the Dhaka University