BARELY two weeks into the gruesome attack on college student Khadiza Akter Nargis in Sylhet, ruling party-blessed miscreants beat up and hacked four more girls in capital’s Mirpur, Munshiganj and Barisal districts. As we see despite Prime Minister’s repeated warning to her party cadres for refraining from any misconduct after the assault on Khadiza by a Chhatra League cadre, the spate of new attacks shows the continued breakdown of the law and order situation in the country. It appears that law enforcement agencies are almost helpless and evasive also in most cases when parents of young girls are totally at a loss how to ensure their protection outside home. People wonder how long will this anarchy continue?
News report said stalkers beat two twine sisters and college students with a bamboo stick near Dhaka Zoo at Mirpur on Wednesday for protesting sexual harassment on them. Some unruly BCL men literally held hostage both girls in front of their own college, called the girls “farm chickens”, and beat them as many looked on but did not come to their rescue. Later they left the spot leaving both girls in shamble.
In Munshiganj, a schoolgirl was hacked by miscreants in Sirajdikhan as she refused a proposal of a local youth. Police said miscreants stormed into the victim’s room at home and hacked her indiscriminately on Tuesday evening when she reached home after appearing an examination. They left her critically injured. Meanwhile, another incident of hacking a girl by Jubo League stalker took place in Barisal as the girl refused to accept his proposal of a relation.
We must say stalkers must be resisted at all cost and when police are not proving helpful, social resistance must come forward to save our young girls as they come under attack while going or coming from schools and colleges or as they come out of home. Courage must replace fear. The fact that girls are not safe at their homes makes the nation helpless. We would ask the law enforcers to arrest the culprits without delay and their prosecution must be held quickly in Speedy Trial courts.
As the unruly youths come from the ruling party, its leaders must use their power and influence to stop them from such attacks. It is unbelievable that party cadres are so defiant. They can’t be so if the government and the ruling party leaders are serious to make them pay heed to their warning. But it appears that ruling party leaders at different levels are protecting and giving shelter to miscreants and as they continue to enjoy impunity from punishment, they have become reckless. We claim that we are living in a civilized society and it can’t be so in a civilized society.
