No matter what the media vehicle is, each and every day we encounter numerous news on harassment, extortions, blackmailing, rapes and murders. It seems like our women have been targeted for being harassed and murdered without receiving justice.
If we take a look at what happened within the last couple of months, we see a girl being targeted, raped and killed in one of the safest zones in the country and let go without any clue. Police are either clueless or not trying enough to dig into this matter for some unknown reasons. It is not only the case of Tonu, but also hundreds of women are being exposed to harassment. Where are we heading to? Loads of articles have been written and many interviews have been taken. Today let us not discuss here and there and add this report to the lot which had not been taken seriously by the administration or which had been disregarded by the intellectual elite.
There may be two reasons behind the chaotic rise of women harassment in this country.
In Bangladesh, there is hardly any regulatory body that looks after the contents which are being aired on television. The obstruction free entry of Indian and western media contents are diluting our society and endangering our women both in private and public life. The western culture has a complete different societal orientation. We face hitches while accepting a drastic change and adoption of culture of west by India. The transitional wave has hit this delta hard and added confusion to our youths on what to follow and what not.
There are three different streams of education. We have Bangla medium curriculum with a sub category of English version along with Englsih medium curriculum and madrasa education. As there is no centralised method, it is getting difficult to track and project the changes of the youth.
Now, these two points have been compiled and backed up by the worst precedence of delayed and denied justice. There is a saying 'Justice delayed is justice denied'. In Bangladesh on many occasions we see justice is not only delayed but also denied unfortunately. This point is letting law breakers encouraged to break the law and escape easily. The culture of letting go is the worst problem currently in Bangladesh.
So what can be done? Firstly, good and strict governance has to be established at the grass root level. It has to be ensured from top to tow. Every time any unwanted event occurs, all rush to the honourable Prime Minister for justice. Root level governance has to be rigid enough and deal with the problems and deliver what the justice demands. If it needs to publicly execute criminals, rapists or harassers, it has to be done to set examples. Secondly, our entire education system has to be re-organised and brought under a centralised system. It will be easier to track and disseminate knowledge to all. Thirdly, humane and proper psychological study has to be introduced to the society. This study can be initiated from the local religious institutes, police stations or social clubs.
With serious joint efforts by the government and each and every citizen of the country, we can build a better and beautiful Bangladesh where each and every woman will be able to walk safely. Today is the first day of Bangla New Year. We hope all women in Bangladesh can celebrate this day without any unwanted occurrence.
The writer is an MBA student at University of Dhaka, Â
saadmankhannabil@live.com
Cultural ‘invasion’ and safety of women
Saadman Khan Nabil | Published: April 14, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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