Worse than a savage act
Monday, 23 July 2007
THE ghastly murder of advocate Sayma Khanum by slitting her throat inside her Elephant Road apartment by an assassin the other day has again seriously jolted the confidence of most people in the sanity of fellow men. What he did is worse than a savage act. How can a human being slaughter a fellow human being who talks like him, looks like him or his brother, father, sister or mother, who responds to impulses like him -- happy when pleased, sad when hurt or offended? The person who killed her in the gruesome manner is only comparable with a wild beast in the frame of a human being.
Unfortunately, similar incidents of gruesome killing are no more rare in this society. The frequency of such beastly acts is on the rise. Rapists kill many young girls after forcibly violating them. Many young and old persons-- men and women-- are often found killed at many spots across the country, some times with their throats slit open. This society did not witness such beastly killings twenty or thirty years ago. On looking back into more remote past, one finds that incidents like these rarely occurred. The society has visibly undergone serious corrosion of human values. This awesome phenomenon should make all sane persons in this country anxious for finding out and arresting its causes. Social thinkers, academics, the civil society, the law enforcers and the media may collectively converge their attention on this dreadful trend. They should all work unitedly to free the society from the burden of this fast spreading rot that threatens to demolish the faith of human beings on fellow human beings.
The force that unites a society is fast fading in this country. Clearly, the social fabric is subject to strain. Killers like the one who terminated the life of the advocate in her residence should be subjects of case studies not only by law enforcers but also by others who strongly contribute to changing and forging public opinion. The backgrounds of such killers, their education, environment, exposures and ideological moorings may be critically studied in order to discover the societal lapses that have transformed them into such heinous anti-social elements. Unless it is done, this nation may not be able to conceptualise and effect necessary systemic changes to stop the derailment of the society.
As it appeared from newspaper reports based on conversation of pressmen with the two maids in the apartment of the victim advocate, who saw the killer, he was well dressed. He may be educated or, otherwise, a modern man with some means. His act of killing was incompatible with his image. The causes of the immense corrosion of human values in him should be exposed if others in the society intend that this country must not knowingly and unknowingly harbour and rear any killer. The law enforcers should be on their toes to apprehend this abominable animal in the frame of a human being who attacked and killed a lady in what was supposed to be her safe home. According to press reports, he entered her house as a gentleman and left it as a killer after slaughtering his host. He should not have the opportunity to enjoy freedom and free air any further. The social capital in a country, which is no less important than its financial capital as a contributing factor to economic development, is primarily built on mutual trust among its people. This trust in this country must not be allowed to suffer due to criminal activities of the worst form, which is murder.
Unfortunately, similar incidents of gruesome killing are no more rare in this society. The frequency of such beastly acts is on the rise. Rapists kill many young girls after forcibly violating them. Many young and old persons-- men and women-- are often found killed at many spots across the country, some times with their throats slit open. This society did not witness such beastly killings twenty or thirty years ago. On looking back into more remote past, one finds that incidents like these rarely occurred. The society has visibly undergone serious corrosion of human values. This awesome phenomenon should make all sane persons in this country anxious for finding out and arresting its causes. Social thinkers, academics, the civil society, the law enforcers and the media may collectively converge their attention on this dreadful trend. They should all work unitedly to free the society from the burden of this fast spreading rot that threatens to demolish the faith of human beings on fellow human beings.
The force that unites a society is fast fading in this country. Clearly, the social fabric is subject to strain. Killers like the one who terminated the life of the advocate in her residence should be subjects of case studies not only by law enforcers but also by others who strongly contribute to changing and forging public opinion. The backgrounds of such killers, their education, environment, exposures and ideological moorings may be critically studied in order to discover the societal lapses that have transformed them into such heinous anti-social elements. Unless it is done, this nation may not be able to conceptualise and effect necessary systemic changes to stop the derailment of the society.
As it appeared from newspaper reports based on conversation of pressmen with the two maids in the apartment of the victim advocate, who saw the killer, he was well dressed. He may be educated or, otherwise, a modern man with some means. His act of killing was incompatible with his image. The causes of the immense corrosion of human values in him should be exposed if others in the society intend that this country must not knowingly and unknowingly harbour and rear any killer. The law enforcers should be on their toes to apprehend this abominable animal in the frame of a human being who attacked and killed a lady in what was supposed to be her safe home. According to press reports, he entered her house as a gentleman and left it as a killer after slaughtering his host. He should not have the opportunity to enjoy freedom and free air any further. The social capital in a country, which is no less important than its financial capital as a contributing factor to economic development, is primarily built on mutual trust among its people. This trust in this country must not be allowed to suffer due to criminal activities of the worst form, which is murder.