The wretched and the damned

Do thieves have conscience or not? The question is likely to trouble anyone boasting even a tiny fraction of that precious gift when s/he comes across a most moving piece of news. The story in brief is that a blind man named Rafiqul Islam from a village in Kendua Upazila, Netrakona, living solely on songs in accompaniment with his musical instruments called 'khanjani' and 'mandira' has recently suffered the loss of those instruments. He has been deprived of his livelihood most likely by the handiwork of a thief.

Rafiqul lost his eyesight in his boyhood, according to the report carried in a Bangla contemporary. Ever since that fateful incident, he picked up tunes and songs on his own. He used to sing in markets and bazaars and entertained his audience who offered him money. With no shelter on his head and no hearth to claim his own, the blind man is habituated to taking shelter in houses of those who are kind enough to him to make the favour. At the time of the theft, he was staying at someone's house in a neighbouring village. He has been shedding tears since the theft of his precious instruments.

No words can express the utter helplessness and anguish of the handicapped man. Even thieves are known to demonstrate their generosity. They and pickpockets steal but when they find in one's wallet or among the stolen goods something without which their owners will face a lot of difficulties, they return those articles by post or other means. Even muggers take away everything from their victims but at times hand over bus or rickshaw fares so that the latter can return home or to their destinations. One would believe thieves are equally considerate before they target their victims.

In this case, Rafiqul's plight should have aroused compassion in the heart of the thief. Unfortunately it has not. Now a new set of the two instruments is likely to cost Tk 1,000 which the blind man cannot manage. But the old ones will not fetch the thief as much for two reasons. First, to sell stolen good the thief will always be on the wrong side of the bargain. Second, such second-hand instruments will naturally be valued less than a brand new set. Does it mean that the thief was in a most desperate situation imaginable? No one knows. But any way, the thief certainly made a wrong choice.

When the country is savouring the rise in per capita income to $ 1,190, one cannot but look back at the minimalist survival attempt by a segment of society. The blind man now aged 45, could not save even Tk 1,000 and the thief was so desperate as to make good his escape with the means of livelihood of such a poor man. People in some sections are getting richer all right, but there are wretched ones who are barely surviving on a pittance. Their next generations will only go down the spire.

And it is such a society where, social security net is yet to cover a man of Rafiqul's position. Even if creation of a welfare society is a big ask, at least there should be provision for helping men like Rafiqul to procure the means of livelihood so stolen. This brings the policymakers face to face with a few unnerving questions. They are unlikely to give satisfactory answers to those questions.