Man is a sinner by nature. This is why he was thrown out of Heaven, for indulgence in forbidden pleasure. It was an apple. Now it is carnal. Epstein is a poster face of this sin. Like it or not, this is human nature. He cannot be trusted.
There are variants of sins, small to large, from white lies to killing. There are laws to control such behaviour that ranges from pat on the hand to the gallows. Smoking in public places is a sin as it affects others, besides harm to oneself. Inflicting harm on oneself is also a sin and hence one is not allowed to take own life. Among the minor sins, consider spitting on the road or throwing used tissues. These sins abound our daily life affecting the national health, the reason we are a very polluted country in the world. It has an adverse impact on external perception of life in the country. The consequence is fatal beginning with our failure to attract external tourists in spite of having some of very beautiful places like the Sunderbans or Sreemangal. Slogan Beautiful Bangladesh is meaningless without addressing the internal abuses.
Going one step further, there are sins of more serious nature that are regular newspaper headlines. Many are blatant violations that are almost absent in most countries from where we want tourists. Within the country these sins are tolerated by the regulators or law enforcing agencies for whatever the reason. Many of the sinners are repeated doers who escape through the loophole of law. The tenet of law that a thousand sinners may be freed so that no single innocent gets punished needs re-examination. This is to close the loopholes of law as used by adult males. Even if an innocent is affected, this will be a small price considering greater interest of the society. Looking back to the days of liberation, there were many who sacrificed their lives for the freedom that we now cherish. We are almost in a similar situation risking continuity of the nation.
Going further down the line, there are sins at the national level such as stealing by the powerful. These are rare in countries with which we want to link up. But the most worrying thing is regulatory slackness in handling such sins. Consider the effort to get the loot back. It will not be easy due to reluctance of the countries where these are kept. It is good business for them. How else could they allow such large deposits without proper documents while we face multiple questions in the country for transactions in smaller amounts, nowhere near the seven digits.
Economics is called the dismal science as it always talks about bad things in life from inflation to unemployment. Health Sciences is a new area challenging this title. It is always a No in terms of good things in life from eating to bathing in winter sun. Whatever tastes good is bad. Similarly, too much comfort is bad. Yes, one now lives much longer. But what is the point when one loses control of his body and mind as he advances in age?
There are sins in other parts of the world, though of different in nature. Once-prosperous Middle East is now a cursed region of the world due to the greed of the very powerful. Not long ago it was Vietnam. Racism is on the rise in much of the developed world as is Hinduism in neighbouring India. There had been clashes between factions in the past such as Catholic's against Protestants, Shias against Sunnis. But the level of intolerance has gotten more acute. This is tantamount to Xenophobia. Whatever the reason, this needs correction for the sake of the world to continue, even perform. May sanity come back to the minds of those who use these sins to their advantage.
Talking about the past, an amusing experience comes to my mind. My grandfather was not happy as India became independent. He preferred the good old days of Raj. The Principal of my college was not happy as we became independent second time. And now we have a similar situation having profound effect on our life style. The Social Media controls our daily life through the use of instruments such as Alexa, Siri and the Facebook. Our private lives are eavesdropped in all waking hours as we socialize and indulge in sins when no one is around. Thank goodness, our dreams cannot be penetrated. We all are sinners, rich and poor, young and old. A measure of character is what one does when nobody is around. If no third party is involved in such an act, it is a question of morality against personal freedom. Would any of us prefer cloud-free days of the past?
chowdhury.igc@gmail.com