Failing to celebrate responsibly : Ugly side of Yaoshang
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 30 2016 -
Another ugly side of Yaoshang.
Six killed in road mishaps across the State during the five days festival and while road accidents can and do occur at other times, the fact that traffic police managed to collect Rs 3,59,200 as fines from traffic violators should tell a significant story.
That safety does not figure high on the agenda of quite a number of revellers is clear and this becomes all that more tragic when this leads to loss of lives.
And certainly road accidents tend to see a huge leap during festivals like Yaoshang and thereby hangs a tale.
Do the people really know how to celebrate ?
Not only Yaoshang but the story is more or less the same during times of other festivals and Manipur certainly celebrates a number of festival in a year.
In many ways this is also symptomatic of the point that no one seems to give any importance to the traffic rules and regulations.
Driving under influence becomes all that more apparent during times of festival and it is disturbing to note that the ghastly road mishaps that one sees regularly has not been able to instil a sense of discipline amongst the many who take the wheel.
There is a reason why the police always come out with a list of dos and don’ts during the run up to any festival but if the fines collected and the number of casualties are taken into account, then it is apparent that not many take the measures taken up by the police that seriously.
Youngsters zooming around on their fancy motor bikes, tipsy drivers racing each other, over loaded vehicles, breaking speed limits are all spectacles that one can associate with during Yaoshang and this is where questions may be raised on the parents, guardians and elders of every family.
Are the youngsters taught to respect traffic rules and regulations ? Are the parents giving a free hand to the youngsters to take the vehicle ?
These are all relevant questions for it entails the safety of everyone.
For the moment, the immediate family members, friends and those close to the deceased may feel the pang, but in the long run it is society which is answerable.
Time to teach everyone, particularly the youngsters, that celebrating a festival comes with its share of responsibility and definitely rash driving which can lead to mishaps and cause misery to anyone is not being responsible.
Also right to acknowledge that driving also calls for responsibility.
The next festival will come and it is only right that the people demonstrate that they can celebrate responsibly.
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