Putting an end forever to car bashing culture
Monday, 1 February 2010
One of the very galling aspects of the social and political scenes in Bangladesh is the car bashing culture. Mobs and youngsters on different pretexts are frequently seen swooping down on private transports and bashing them most insensitively to give vent to their grievances, justified or not. The outcome is destruction of private property for no good reasons. This practice and mentality is not only against the law of the land but also runs contrary to universally practised laws and customs in this regard.
Car bashing has been a part of the political culture of this country for long. Protestors claiming allegiance to different political parties are prone to attacking cars and other vehicles running on roads without the victims doing anything at all to deserve such assaults on them. The attackers could be showing their anger for an accident that may have been committed by a single vehicle causing a casualty. But instead of catching and submitting the offender for facing the due process of the law, the witnesses to the incident may burst forth in a riotous mood and start bashing cars right and left in an orgy of violence leaving a large number of vehicles damaged for no wrong done by their owners or drivers. Or the marchers of a political rally may start attacking cars in a similar fashion just to draw attention to their demands. In fact, attacking transports on flimsiest grounds or no grounds have become like an integral part of life in Bangladesh that begs a long overdue stern governmental and societal response to the same.
The latest example of such outrage was noted in the car parking area of the on-going International Trade Fair last Friday. Young men, reported to be cadres of a students' organization, vandalised over 100 cars belonging to the visitors at this fair on this holiday. The young men resorted to mindless attacking of parked vehicles when police arrested a few of them on charges of eve teasing and also lifting objects from some stalls and attempting to leave without making payments for the same. At first, police wanted to reason it out with the offenders. This did not apparently work and the police resorted to a mild lathi charge. Then the mayhem started in fully fury with the young men taking it out on the parked vehicles failing to get at the well-armed police.
Such incidents can happen only in the absence of strong deterrent laws against such riotous actions. Of course, there are prevailing laws that can cover the handling of law-breakers in such cases. But the same are not strong enough and, therefore, carry little or no deterrent value. It has become so necessary now to specially enact a law and enforce it thoroughly in every such incident so that the potential trouble-makers may become conscious about what fate would await them on doing such things and from this consciousness to feel really restrained.
Car bashing has been a part of the political culture of this country for long. Protestors claiming allegiance to different political parties are prone to attacking cars and other vehicles running on roads without the victims doing anything at all to deserve such assaults on them. The attackers could be showing their anger for an accident that may have been committed by a single vehicle causing a casualty. But instead of catching and submitting the offender for facing the due process of the law, the witnesses to the incident may burst forth in a riotous mood and start bashing cars right and left in an orgy of violence leaving a large number of vehicles damaged for no wrong done by their owners or drivers. Or the marchers of a political rally may start attacking cars in a similar fashion just to draw attention to their demands. In fact, attacking transports on flimsiest grounds or no grounds have become like an integral part of life in Bangladesh that begs a long overdue stern governmental and societal response to the same.
The latest example of such outrage was noted in the car parking area of the on-going International Trade Fair last Friday. Young men, reported to be cadres of a students' organization, vandalised over 100 cars belonging to the visitors at this fair on this holiday. The young men resorted to mindless attacking of parked vehicles when police arrested a few of them on charges of eve teasing and also lifting objects from some stalls and attempting to leave without making payments for the same. At first, police wanted to reason it out with the offenders. This did not apparently work and the police resorted to a mild lathi charge. Then the mayhem started in fully fury with the young men taking it out on the parked vehicles failing to get at the well-armed police.
Such incidents can happen only in the absence of strong deterrent laws against such riotous actions. Of course, there are prevailing laws that can cover the handling of law-breakers in such cases. But the same are not strong enough and, therefore, carry little or no deterrent value. It has become so necessary now to specially enact a law and enforce it thoroughly in every such incident so that the potential trouble-makers may become conscious about what fate would await them on doing such things and from this consciousness to feel really restrained.