The greeds of few, sufferings of many

It deemed a dormant volcano waiting for a precise moment to erupt. Chwakbazar tragedy- A harrowing consequence of illegal hoarding of the chemical substance in the basement of the building by some unscrupulous businessman. To put in another form, greed of few businessmen to maximize profit albeit a blatant disregard of city corporation rules that claimed excruciating death of 70 people. Greed- a major driver of capitalism which is a common attribute of human personality can be defined as the excessive or selfish desire for something more than need (money, status, power, food or prestige). It says concentrate as much property as you can and beat your competitors in any way necessary.

The collapse of Rana Plaza, fire at Tajrin fashion, Nimtali and chakbajar tragedy are some recent concrete example of how the greed of certain people in the form of negligence, irresponsibility or violation of law ensued mass human disaster. In every mishap, it has found sheer negligence of few people in line with authoritative body caused those hazards which otherwise could have been averted. This is not going to end with old Dhaka tragic calamity but will appear in another form in somewhere else. No, we don’t have to wait for another such wake-up call, rather we are constantly the victim of someone’s avarice. Rampant corruption of politician (as the recent anti-corruption drive exposed many corrupted politicians and bureaucrats) or illicit business of traders (like drug peddling, share market scam and loan default) incessantly harming common people’s right and interest. But how long they will continue to accumulate? Will their greed to become superior ever be fulfilled? As M.k. Gandhi said, there is sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed. if this issue is not strictly handled, we can’t expect business free from political influence and politics to use a game changer of individual luck.

Md Eleus Mia
Institute of social welfare and research
University of Dhaka