The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, on Thursday visited the families of the schoolboys killed in a traffic accident at Mirsarai in Chittagong and said that the death of the children was a national loss.
‘I am here to share your pain. It is not only you who are grief-stricken but the entire nation is also mourning the death,’ Khaleda said as he addressed a condolence rally in the Abu Torab High School ground in the afternoon.
‘My two sons are now out of the country being ill. As a mother, I can feel how tragic it is to lose a son. And I am here to share your pain,’ she said.
Khaleda said that the country would never forget the 44 boys and her party would take the responsibility for the rehabilitation of the families of the victims when opportunity would come.
‘We are not in the govern-ment. Still we have the intention to do something for the families of the victims. We are always beside you,’ she added.
‘The bright students were supposed to take the responsibilities of their families. I understand how heavy it weighed for fathers to carry coffins of their sons,’ she said.
She also requested the parents of the students who survived the accident to take extra care for the children so that they could grow up properly overcoming the trauma.
Khaleda, also the leader of the opposition in the parliament, instructed the local BNP leaders to stand beside the families of the victims so that they could overcome the shock.
She consoled the mothers of the deceased embracing them on the podium and after the rally and distributed Tk 25,000 to each of the families in token assistance.
BNP standing committee members Khandakar Mosherraf Hossain and Gayeshshar Roy, vice-chairmen M Morshed Khan and Abdullah Al Noman, Chittagong mayor M Manjur Alam, city unit BNP president Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury, Chittagong district (south) unit president Giashuddin Quader Chowdhury and central executive committee member ADM Kamaluddin Chowdhury, among others, addressed the rally presided over by Nurul Amin.
Before attending the meeting, Khaleda visited houses of the deceased madrassah student Saidul Islam, near the spot of the accident, on Abu Torab-Bartakia Road and consoled the bereaved family.
Teachers and students of Abu Torab High School, meanwhile, broke down into tears during a rally in remembrance of the deceased students.
‘We were supposed to remain in class right now. But we are holding a commemoration rally just because of the irresponsibility of a driver. We demand stringent measures so that we do not need to hold any such rally in the future,’ said the head teacher of the school, Zafar Sadek, as he presided over the programme.
Schoolteachers Mominul Hoque, Jahangir Kabir, Rabiul Hossain Nizamee and Samiran Barua, and students Saurav Hossain, Saidur Rahman, Tanveer Hossain, Nurjahan Setu and Jesmin Aktar addressed the rally.
The communications minister, Sayed Abul Hossain, as he visited the spot, said that the committee set up to investigate the accident had submitted a preliminary report to him which blamed the irresponsibility of the truck driver for the accident.
‘We have finalised a draft to amend the motor vehicles act after the accident and it will be placed at the next cabinet meeting,’ he said adding that the draft provisions for stringent punishment for the irresponsibility of drivers in such cases.
The minister also announced to provide Tk 25,000 for each of the families of the deceased and Tk 10,000 for each of the families of the injured from his own fund.
He also announced to provide education up to master’s degree for the students of the bereaved families free with residential facilities in educational institutions set up by him.
The National Bank also disbursed cheques for Tk 20,000 among each of the families of the victims.
The accident, which took place on Abu Torab–Bartakia Road about 1:00pm on Monday, killed 44 students, including 35 of Abu Torab High School, 2 of Abu Torab Fazil Madrassah, 3 of Abu Torab Primary School and 2 of Professor Kamal Uddin College.
-With New Age input
