Why could a classroom not be safe?
It could have been some other place and not Milestone College in Uttara. And it has happened before. Our F7 fighter jets have crashed into homes before. Except that casualties, in those case, have not been so numerous or so devastating. In this most recent disaster, the death toll is set to rise from the 32 so far, since many admitted in hospitals are barely hanging on to life with 80 or 90 percent burns.
It is devastating not just for the families but the entire nation because most of the victims were children. They had gone to school in the morning, hoping to learn. But they never came back. Their dreams died with them. Their parents are inconsolable. Their friends are left with shock they do not possess the ability to process.
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According to ISPR, the jet aircraft had a "mechanical failure." And this was not the first time that an F7 had experienced this. Still, it was allowed to fly. And not just anywhere. It flew over one of the most crowded cities in the world. Below, thousands of people were living, studying, working.
Why was a fighter jet performing manoeuvres within Dhaka's airspace? What were the events that led up to this situation? Who was responsible for making the decisions that allowed this to happen?
Experts say training flights should happen in safer places like Jessore or Chattogram. But this flight flew over schools and homes. Even if it was an accident, it bared the cracks in the system. And that has happened only because dozens of innocent lives have slipped through these cracks.
Writing it off as a "mechanical failure" will not bring the children back, neither will an apology, which has yet to materialise. The government must answer and the air force must take responsibility. The families must get justice, not just money.
It must have been a series of decisions made at the highest level that put these classrooms in the path of danger. Someone must answer for that. While there is no doubt that this is a grave tragedy, the government as well as all other relevant quarters would do well to see it as not just a tragedy.
This is a wake-up call.
Md Abbas is a journalist at The Daily Star. He can be reached at [email protected]
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