THE killing of Babul Sikder, 17, by his friends in a Mirpur cricket ground based on a trifling matter showed how far the society has become criminalized without compassion for friends and fellow human beings. Such qualities have now almost disappeared. It must be worrying to see young ones get violent easily. Indeed Wednesday opened in the boy’s life with hope and excitement because as a SSC candidate he was waiting for a good result scheduled for publication that afternoon. His expectations turned out to be quite justified as he passed out with GPA-5 but he was already no more. The event of celebration for the boy and the family instantly turned out to be an occasion of mourning in which the locals and the entire nation, sort to say, seem to have no word to condole the death. The family had dreams; they have now only sadness to bear. Police action of arresting his young friends is not the total answer. Police cannot improve social behaviour. The young ones see other young ones are being used in public life for violent activities. Our politics has not only polluted the political and social atmosphere, it is doing maximum damage to our young ones. They are being used as thugs. The young ones are not learning to be self-disciplined and restrained in conducting themselves. They see around them and in the media how the politicians are using the young ones in violent activities for political gains. Bad political behaviour does not remain confined among the so-called politicians. No society is put right unless politics is right and humane. How to save our children from cruelty should be the concern of the sociologists. But the killing of a young boy by his three playmate friends in the cricket ground is just the eye opener to the fact that criminality is overtaking society and destroying peaceful social life. The friends are certainly not criminals they also did not want to kill him. But they acted most irresponsibly making them face heinous criminal charges and they cannot escape from it.
