The Colours of Life

The cargo vessel involved in a hit and run incident in Narayanganj on Sunday, leading to the capsize of a passenger launch that killed at least 34 people, was seized at a dock in Gazaria, Munshiganj. Three days after the incident, the Coast Guard there found the vessel anchored near its station and handed it over to the River Police. The vessel, however, by that time had changed its colour—MV SKL-3 was no longer wearing the colour in which it appeared in the video footage ploughing through a small launch. It received a fresh coat of paint as if to hide the stains of killing 34 people earlier. The harrowing tales of the survivors and the horrid sight of dead bodies will evoke our sympathies and haunt our memories for some time. Our newspapers will cry havoc, pointing fingers at the lack of rules and safety, supervision and surveillance, or moral and judicial responsibilities. Then again, when there will be a similar incident in the future (not unlikely during this stormy season), the media will belch in satisfaction, crying another round of havoc, "told ya"! The mundane routine of such tragedy stops me from being sentimental. What intrigues me in this tragedy is neither the villainous vessel nor the hapless mass, but the grand scheme of changing colours.