Viva Rickshaw

A clean, green, healthy Dhaka will happen with regulation of the internal combustion engine, not by condemning pedal-power. Let us get one thing straight. Rick shaws came first. Cars later. Cars kill. The rickshaw cannot. Rickshaws do not cause pollution. Cars do. Rickshaws take up less space. Cars more.

Unfortunately, where one stands depends on where one sits. The fact is that all the people in Dhaka who complain about the problem of rickshaws—the municipal authorities, the educated members of the public and typically, the foreigners— are invariably the ones who are seated behind tinted car windscreens, relaxing in air-conditioned comfort and, usually, hurrying to their self-important meetings. Thus, when stuck in a traffic jam caused by their own oversized vehicles, instead of seeing themselves as the cause of the problem, they blame the lowly rickshaw operators. Perhaps these self-centred folks should take a trip to Bangkok or Manila to experience the joys of cities where the car is king, but they might not be able to get back. Now, if one were to pull out a gun and fired it straight down Mirpur Road in Dhaka, would it be possible to blame the imminent death of an innocent passerby on his or her stupidity and lack of education? Yet, analogously, that is the argument made by many drivers who hurl curses at the unfortunate rickshaw-wallah who gels in the way of their speed fix.