People in the wrong with compunction

The death of a retired government official from the beating he received at the hands of secretary of the flat owners' association and his henchmen in old Dhaka comes as a great shock. A protest overnight by the deceased to the loud noise of a pre-marital (gaye halud) celebration after midnight drew the wrath from the revellers. They sent for the sexagenarian man who survived a bypass surgery and beat him up for protesting the night before. The elderly man died on his way to hospital. How outrageous! People in the wrong not only did fail to realise they owed an apology to the senior citizen but also felt the urge to settle the score in the most criminal way possible. They murdered a person for rightly protesting the intolerable sound with a record of troubled heart. Notably, the flat owners' association made rules for not playing loud music after 12 pm. The secretary of the association broke the rule made consensually by all members.

Now this incident is indicative of two vital aspects of society concerning legal compliance and sheer mindlessness of a section of people. In this case, noise pollution falls within the purview of law of the land. Sure enough, the senior citizen could seek redress from the law enforcement agencies. If anyone is guilty of producing intolerable sounds at night, the police can be informed for intervention. But patients with heart or kidney complications need immediate relief from high decibel sounds. The elderly person perhaps thought he would be able to convince the revellers of the need to bringing an end to the celebration because it was then around 1:00 am. Also if he was a flat owner, he was within his right to make the request instead of informing the police.

What is unacceptable is that such events are held causing disturbances to neighbours almost on a regular basis. Dhaka streets record noises many times the permissible level. The apathy grown to the menace is most detestable. On-duty law enforcers seem to be totally oblivious of the fact that they have a responsibility to act when drivers unnecessarily honk their horns -hydraulic or otherwise. Similarly, the high-decibel music played at family celebrations indoor or on rooftop is ignored most of the time. The lack of civic sense, together with a could-not-care-less attitude, is to blame. A cosmopolitan city demands better accounts from its citizens.

Since most of the citizens are yet to reach such an awareness level, the law should be applied without discrimination. When lawmakers and even ministers are found to drive their cars on the wrong side of the road, they do not only set a despicable example but also give a poor account of their respect for law they are supposed to uphold. This country's progress in terms of economic development has been laudable but social and mental development hardly matches it. Even technical and technological aptitude is no alternative to mental development. Today's lopsided progress has its inherent danger unless people are imbued with fellow feeling and humanitarian spirit.