When politics is about dishonesty and criminalisation crimes have to soar. But recent days the crime of rape has made all of us deeply concerned. Even the children are not spared. At least 346 children were raped in the last four and a half months of the current year across the country, according to Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum. But girl students and young women have no protection against violence and rape. What is most disturbing is that rape has become so easy that even the police directly or indirectly get involved in rape incidents daringly. They easily forget that they are to protect the people as law enforcers.
In recent days a nurse was gang-raped in horrific conditions and then thrown out to be killed under the running bus. In another incident two police officers were closed due to evidence which linked them to the rape of a woman for two days keeping her confined.
Rape has become an everyday crime mostly by politically powerful ones and that is because wrong people are attracted in politics to legalise their illegal activities. But it is the collusion of police in rape cases that is most unacceptable. We know how the government is dependent on police but that should not mean that they should feel protected against crimes against helpless ones.
A woman was gang-raped on the basis that she had voted for the wrong party. And of course we have the case of the Sonagazi madrasa Principal Siraj Ud Doula–it had been known that several female students and their guardians complained about the principal to the upazila nirbahi officer, additional district magistrate, madrasa governing body and the police station at different times. But neither the local administration nor the madrasa governing body took any action. The OC and SP of that area have been suspended but that is no punishment for the disciplined police force.
So we can say that the prevailing political culture of impunity that is making some callous to commit daring crimes including rape.
It is most unkind of those who blame social attitude for crimes like rape and sexual harassment of girls. We must learn about blame where blame lies. We all know that kind of people in politics are powerful now. Partisan politics should have limits and they cannot feel free to see the people helpless victims of crimes including plundering of the country.
We cannot tolerate people’s police to be destroyed for anti-people politics. It is not efficiency of the police that crimes are extensively committed. We cannot even believe, because of politics, that right persons are being arrested for punishing the guilty ones.
