Danger of prolonged exposure to violence

At a time when people were waiting for sunshine but gloom and despondency surrounded them all around, there came the inspiring news that the Butcher of Mirpur-famed Kader Mollah was going to be executed. Carrying out the death sentence only two days before the Intellectual Martyred Day and four days before the Victory Day have further underlined the fact what Bangladesh could be like if the front-line war criminals had been hanged immediately after the country's independence or when the Gahatak Dalal Nirmul Committee under the leadership of Jahanara Imam campaigned for such a trial. Politics would not have turned so violent. The legacy of the genocide and pogrom the Pakistani army and its local collaborators began in occupied Bangladesh in 1971 lingers on, thanks to the party and its student front that claim to be the upholder of Islam but slit tendons of political rivals.  
There is no doubt that early part of the month of December regarded as the month of victory over the enemy that killed three million people and dishonoured 0.2 million women has been spoiled by the followers of those who collaborated with the Pakistani army. Equally ruthless and evil in their design, they have been able to establish a reign of terror all across the length and breadth of the country. They are setting vehicles and offices or other establishments on fire, attacking the law enforcers. Mostly innocent common people have fallen victim to their unrelenting attacks. Lately, they have targeted residences of a few ministers, members of parliament and judges. Houses and shops of the minority community too came under such attacks.
The impact has been quite telling. People were hardly in a mood to celebrate the Victory Day. Even the execution of Kader Mollah was not enough to create the right ambience for celebration of the great day. Common people felt reluctant to expose themselves to risks. When people were not free to move, they were not expected to feel secure amidst great crowd. Bangladesh never remained the same after the bomb attacks at an Udichi function in Jessore and the Chhayanaut function welcoming the Bangla New Year. Now people have to pass several layers of security check before entering the main venue. The official rally of the Victory Day however proved any misgiving wrong. A huge crowd of 27,117 individuals formed at the parade ground the national flag of a size unmatched so far by any such attempt anywhere in the world. However the functions held at other places by different cultural troupes lacked the spontaneous responses from people.
Victory Day celebration too is likely to lose its spontaneity for ever after what has happened courtesy of the sabotage and other criminal activities now giving a look of a country at war with itself. This December has lost much of its luster despite the attempts at creating two world records in human flag formation and singing of the national anthem by the largest number of people. The spirit of the Liberation is under threat. That is the greatest blow dealt to the nation's pride possession. Millions could take to the street on the night Mollah was hanged to celebrate the victory of justice over the most heinous crimes has ever committed anywhere in the world. No such things happened. Forebodings and fear ringing in the air held back people from coming out on the street in protest against the killings of innocent people.
Once blood-letting becomes the way of life and people lose the moral courage to bring the perpetrators to justice, there is no way to stem the rot. There is every reason to believe that the overwhelming majority hate the killers and do not endorse their acts of cruelty and killing. But yet the rabid supporters of extreme religious and political views are getting the better of the established system only because they are organised and are devoid of human feeling of love and compassion. So detracted are these elements that they revel in incidents involving the burning of people alive or battering a man in uniform until the body lies unconscious and drenched in a pool of blood.
There is a limit to cruelty. Such brazen exhibition of cruelty derails society from the usual norms of fellow feeling and duty towards the needy. People become insensitive and brutal if they are consistently exposed to this kind of monstrosity and killings. The danger lies there. This should set the conscious citizen thinking if society can take any more of such violence. Political elements are dehumanised enough not to realize how dangerous it proves ultimately. But sane people should prevail on the politicians of dreadful impact of the awful legacy.