Pervert mattabars' whipping spree!
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Ameer Hamza
A 16-year old girl of Kasba upazila in Brahmanbaria was reportedly whipped so severely by Delwar Hossain, alias Ullashi, the so-called mattabar (local leader) of the village, that she blacked out and remained unconscious for two long hours. It happened on 17 January 2010, following a 'fatwa' against her for having been raped in April 2009 by one Enamul Mia, 20, of a neighbouring village ! The latter, who ought to have been the one to be caught and made to pay for the sufferings he brought on his victim, was not even recognized as the perpetrator, leave alone punished!
Such perversions of justice are not uncommon in Bangladesh, given the obtuse patriarchal mindset of self-proclaimed village leaders who tarry neither for proof nor conviction, and arrogate to themselves the right to shoot down female victims. These victims themselves of course often suffer from what psychologists call 'subconscious subordination' and do end up feeling not only angered but also ashamed. In this instance too the girl suffered the same trauma and dared not share with anyone the burdensome fact that Enamul Mia's wild oats had become embedded.
When her parents got her married off to another man, she was several months pregnant already. Pretty soon, at her in laws,' it became quite apparent that she was carrying somebody else's baby. And as expected, the poor girl was shown the door ---- back to her father. [The baby, 7 months, was reportedly aborted, which is tantamount to murder, for at 7 months in the womb babies are as good as new-borns in the world, though premature.] As if that was not laceration enough, physically and emotionally, for the girl, Ullashi and his cronies, numbering about a dozen,decided to stage an arbitration session.
The girl was declared guilty of indulging in the unmentionable and subjected to the afore-mentioned 101 'durra' lashings, sadistically carried out by the muttabbar as others looked on. According to reports, at least three other women were whipped by the 'fatwabaj' men in this locality over the past six months.
What is it that tickles these misguided fellows into a lashing spree when poor powerless women fall prey to testosterone-driven miscreants ? Psycho-analysts might have interesting layers to expose in their psyche. But, to be fair, such specimens aren't the norm. Mercifully, there is no dearth of cerebrally and spiritually-endowed males here and across the world who appreciate the merits of a more humane man-woman interface. Among them are both men and women. They have been advancing an all-encompassing, wholistic, humanistic philosophy that deserve to be propagated for the health of all kinds of human relationships. Perversions all around us can be cured only when the space for humane and egalitarian gender relationships is created, consciously.
Let us not forget that both men and women are victims of the predominant patriarchal system and its entrenched stereotypes. But progressives have come a long way, at least in societies where honest debate and discussions are encouraged and diversity and democracy between people are valued. But it must be admitted that misogyny does rear its head even among the otherwise enlightened. Indeed, it seems to be alive and well in every nook and corner of the world. In Bangladesh evidence is screaming in the acid-burnt faces of women, in reported and unreported suicides and dowry deaths, in the attitudes of obscurantists and insecure men who are as far away as possible from the Quranic advice: 'O mankind ! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul ......
A 16-year old girl of Kasba upazila in Brahmanbaria was reportedly whipped so severely by Delwar Hossain, alias Ullashi, the so-called mattabar (local leader) of the village, that she blacked out and remained unconscious for two long hours. It happened on 17 January 2010, following a 'fatwa' against her for having been raped in April 2009 by one Enamul Mia, 20, of a neighbouring village ! The latter, who ought to have been the one to be caught and made to pay for the sufferings he brought on his victim, was not even recognized as the perpetrator, leave alone punished!
Such perversions of justice are not uncommon in Bangladesh, given the obtuse patriarchal mindset of self-proclaimed village leaders who tarry neither for proof nor conviction, and arrogate to themselves the right to shoot down female victims. These victims themselves of course often suffer from what psychologists call 'subconscious subordination' and do end up feeling not only angered but also ashamed. In this instance too the girl suffered the same trauma and dared not share with anyone the burdensome fact that Enamul Mia's wild oats had become embedded.
When her parents got her married off to another man, she was several months pregnant already. Pretty soon, at her in laws,' it became quite apparent that she was carrying somebody else's baby. And as expected, the poor girl was shown the door ---- back to her father. [The baby, 7 months, was reportedly aborted, which is tantamount to murder, for at 7 months in the womb babies are as good as new-borns in the world, though premature.] As if that was not laceration enough, physically and emotionally, for the girl, Ullashi and his cronies, numbering about a dozen,decided to stage an arbitration session.
The girl was declared guilty of indulging in the unmentionable and subjected to the afore-mentioned 101 'durra' lashings, sadistically carried out by the muttabbar as others looked on. According to reports, at least three other women were whipped by the 'fatwabaj' men in this locality over the past six months.
What is it that tickles these misguided fellows into a lashing spree when poor powerless women fall prey to testosterone-driven miscreants ? Psycho-analysts might have interesting layers to expose in their psyche. But, to be fair, such specimens aren't the norm. Mercifully, there is no dearth of cerebrally and spiritually-endowed males here and across the world who appreciate the merits of a more humane man-woman interface. Among them are both men and women. They have been advancing an all-encompassing, wholistic, humanistic philosophy that deserve to be propagated for the health of all kinds of human relationships. Perversions all around us can be cured only when the space for humane and egalitarian gender relationships is created, consciously.
Let us not forget that both men and women are victims of the predominant patriarchal system and its entrenched stereotypes. But progressives have come a long way, at least in societies where honest debate and discussions are encouraged and diversity and democracy between people are valued. But it must be admitted that misogyny does rear its head even among the otherwise enlightened. Indeed, it seems to be alive and well in every nook and corner of the world. In Bangladesh evidence is screaming in the acid-burnt faces of women, in reported and unreported suicides and dowry deaths, in the attitudes of obscurantists and insecure men who are as far away as possible from the Quranic advice: 'O mankind ! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul ......