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When Minister Mirza Abbas speaks of merit being the standard followed in any decision made by the authorities, one surely appreciates the spirit involved. But when the question of merit is resorted to as a pretext for handing out plots, at rather subsidised rates or even throwaway prices, to ministers, lawmakers and their families in such sought after urban areas as Gulshan, Banani and Uttara, one gets the very disturbing feeling that the public interest is not being served by those who have been placed in public positions by the nation. We have been unfortunate, in this country, in observing how lawmakers, having boycotted Parliament for months on end, have turned up to affix their signatures in the register only because their financial benefits needed to be maintained. Additionally, we have had the quite enervating spectacle of the cabinet decreeing a pay rise for itself, quite obscuring the thought that a good deal of morality was involved here. It is inconceivable that when the salary structure of people in the various government departments is yet to be readjusted, indeed when the purchasing power of the common man calls for a serious review of conditions, our ministers have felt little compunction in deciding that they need an enhancement in their salaries as well as related perks. That is what one would call an act of insensitivity. It is shocking because it comes from people from whom we expect the best of examples to be set, in terms of leadership.
   Now that some new salt has been rubbed into the public wound, through the decision to allot all those choice morsels of plots to political people (and we understand the number of individuals involved is no fewer than fifty seven), we as a people can only say how appalled we are by the move. It is something which militates against our idea of public service, for we remain committed to the belief that the men and women we elect to high political positions are all individuals ready to offer self-sacrifice in the larger interest of national welfare. We expect frugality on the part of ministers and parliamentarians because that is what the concept of democratic politics has instilled in us as a nation over the decades. If truth be told, there have been politicians in this country — and they too rose to the high calling of ministerial positions — who demonstrated in practice the idealism on which they based their politics. If now that old idealism, that primeval sense of leadership based on morality and public welfare, is found wanting, it is an important pointer to how politics may have actually gone missing in our lives. One can truly raise here the issue of the extent to which those who call themselves politicians in these times are actually in a position to grasp the substance and reach of politics. One just may have a pretty clear notion of how politics, true, genuine, time-honoured politics, may have been taking a battering in recent times through recalling a survey conducted not long ago. The gist of the survey was that only twelve per cent of the existing membership of the Jatiyo Sangsad comprises professional politicians, with the rest dominated by business, bureaucracy, et al, in that order. That said, it is still the public expectation that those who are elected to Parliament and those who make their way into the council of ministers will conduct themselves as political beings because they are in the business of politics, for all their background. Given that kind of reality, it is the hope that they will set their own individual interests aside and go back to remembering the idea of the common weal they were so vocal about as they campaigned for election to the legislature.
   It was a bad move for those plots of land to be earmarked for ministers and MPs. We suggest that it be rescinded and, if the plots have to be given away, a proper, transparent procedure under the auspices of Rajuk be adopted. Anything that has the whiff of corruption cannot be condoned.

Save the gardens

Leaving the Botanical Gardens in Mirpur at the mercy of the lawless and the corrupt amounts to condoning a grievous crime that actually should be dealt with. But, as a report in yesterday’s issue of this newspaper makes clear, there are patent instances before us of what has been going wrong with the gardens, long prized (since it was established in 1961) as a symbol of natural beauty. The number of trees and plants as well as the varieties of flowers which have lent charm to the gardens have in essence been a reflection of our heritage. It now appears that the heritage, if we may describe the gardens in that manner, is under assault. The usual groups of local hoodlums are there to make a travesty of the beauty of the gardens. But what is surely galling is the negligence of the authorities towards the place, so much so that the lawless elements have not only broken down parts of the boundary of the gardens but have also succeeded in encroaching on more than twenty acres of land within the premises of the gardens. That is an ominous sign of what some people may be planning to do to destroy the gardens.
   One does not need much wisdom to know that the depredations which have put the Botanical Gardens at risk have quite a few people involved. In other words, the lawless elements responsible for the problems which today assail the gardens surely have the backing of influential quarters. It is for the authorities, if they mean to uphold the beauty of the place and also stop it from falling apart, to crack down hard on the criminals. But for that to be done, it is important that the many positions lying vacant at the gardens, such as those relating to botanists, forest conservators, curators and the like, be filled. There can be no denying that when an office or organisation is weakened by inadequate manpower, it will be taken advantage of. Must that happen to the Botanical Gardens, a spot where the aesthetic sensibilities of people should be coming into full play?

All the news appeared on the same day and in the same English daily, recently. There was not anything new about these news because similar events have been reported before. What made the recent ones special was their simultaneous appearance. It confirms the fact that violence against women in Bangladesh takes place on daily basis and almost all over the country. The places of occurrence are villages, mofussil towns and the capital city. Women are not safe anywhere, it would seem.
   But it is not all types of women who becomes victims of repression and violence. Those coming from well to do and influential families are immune from dangers that lie in wait both in darkness and light. It is the girls from poor families who are victimized by men almost at their sweet will. They are raped and beaten mercilessly, by people who are known to them and also by strangers. Often rape is followed by murder. Rogue elements among the youth throw acids at girls who dare to stand up to their evil designs. The acid victims may survive but become a ghost of their past life with no hope of a happy married life. Maid servants, many of whom are minor girls, are frequently battered and burnt by their mistresses for trifling mistakes. In villages, the plight of poor women is the worst. Besides being sexually assaulted and exploited by members of rural elite, they bear the brunt of ‘fatwa’ by religions leaders for their alleged moral transgressions. News about whipping as punishment to such hapless women followed by their suicide appear not too infrequently.
   The news that appeared on the same day and in the same newspaper covered the Zahida rape and murder case in Magura and gang rape of a garment worker in Netrokona. In the first case the victim, daughter of a poor farmer in a village in Sreepur upazila, was raped and strangled by some youths in July 2002. She had appeared in the HSC examinations and on the fateful day was returning from her friend’s house when miscreants allegedly led by one Mamun, dragged her to a jute field and killed her after gang rape. Mamun was handed over to police but he was released on bail after a few days. The case was sent to the DB for investigation in August, 2002. After investigation, the DB submitted two charge sheets in April, 2003 under the Women and Child Repression Prevention Act. The case was transferred to CID in July, 2003 for further investigation on submission of a ‘naraji’ (no-confidence) petition. The trial in this case is yet to start and the accused are at large on bail.
   In the second case, a garment worker alighted from a bus at Pularghat in Netrokona in the evening and took a rickshaw to go to her village home. On way, a group of miscreants abducted her and took her to a rice mill where she was gang raped. Luckily she survived and is now in custody. None of the rapists has been arrested so far. A few days ago a sensational news about rape of a housewife in Jessore appeared in almost all national newspapers. In this instance the victim, coming from a poor family, was gang raped allegedly by 14 policemen of a thana. Her ordeal did not stooped there. When a case was filed, she was sent to a clinic for medical test. It is alleged that she was raped by the doctor on duty. The victim’s case has been taken over by a woman’s organization for safe custody and institution of investigation.
   The above mentioned rape cases and others that appear from time to time briefly in the middle pages of news papers have some common aspects. The victims invariably belong to poor families and are socially disadvantaged. Investigations into the cases of violence against are slow and often deflected under influence. Very few cases result in conviction and punishment of the perpetrators of the crime. The same can be said about other crimes committed against women, particularly those coming from poor families. Individuals involved in the crimes remain at large, intimidating the families of the victims and influencing witnesses, as well as the investigation agency.
   According to a news report published recently, the incidents of violence against women took a sharp rise in the last few years ‘mainly due to negative attitude of men towards women and government’s apathy to discrimination against women in family laws’. Last year, 5986 women fell victim to violence, up from 2474 in 2003. According to Ain O Salish Kendra, the number of victim was 693 in 1996 and 1438 in 1997. The total cases of rape were 1074 in 2004 while the number was 753 in 1997 and 262 in 2004. It is estimated that 1379 women were murdered over dowry during this period and 84 others committed suicide for the same reason. The other forms of violence against women including throwing acid, trafficking, torture, teasing and fatwa are also on the increase. According to Mass-line Media Centre, on average 25 incidents of violence against women take place every day.
   The above news did not get any prominent publicity in newspapers and appeared on the tenth page of an English daily. One can only conclude from this that those who help form public opinion or purportedly uphold public interests, have either become jaded or indifferent to such news. This in turn, may be due to the frequency or the seeming banality of the events reported. Be that as it may, growing cases of violence against women and the social background of the victims, make it apparent that in the worsening law and order situation, poor and disadvantaged women are the worst sufferers. They fall victim to repression and violence not only because of gender difference but mainly because of their poverty. Crimes against women cannot be stopped only by enforcement of law by the agencies concerned because the law enforcing agency and society in general are in most cases indifferent to the rights and interests of the poor. Theoretically all are equal before law and everyone irrespective of gender and class, have equal claim to justice. But in reality, law and justice are available to only those who can afford to assert themselves and are vocal about their rights. This is possible when individuals and families have money and influence.
   Violence against women is, therefore, not a law and order problem but one that involves issues of class division. However, comprehensive and perfect the laws meant to prevent and punish violence against women may be, the economic divide make their application inadequate and irregular. The negligence of law enforcing agency is exacerbated by the fact that the society at large is indifferent, even un-co-operative in helping the victim women to avail of justice. Either there is a conspiracy of silence on their side or connivance to help the accused because of common class interests. It is obvious that violence against women can be prevented or punished in cases where such prevention is not possible, only when they can overcome their disadvantaged status. But this solution, graduating form poverty, cannot be achieved overnight by the majority of poor women. During the short term, therefore, they have to be helped by other means that can compensate for the lack of their economic status. This can happen when they organize themselves into groups and associations for social advancement and collective strength. The same goal can be reached, partially, when specialized civil bodies take up their cases and put pressure on administration, particularly law enforcing agency, to be vigilant against violence against poor women and take legal action when such violence takes place.
   Unfortunately, civic bodies in Bangladesh which could play a crucial role in the prevention of violence against poor women are few in number and they are active mostly in the capital city. They spend a great deal of time holding seminars and making press statements. This may be necessary and relevant but has limited usefulness. In order to be really effective and helpful to their target group, they have to be more widespread, reaching out to each upazila. Collecting information after the violent incidents take place is not enough, though it serves a purpose. NGOs working for women, should have their presence nearer to their clientele. This will help both in the prevention of violent incidents from taking place, at least in many, if not all cases, and also monitor the situation. Organizations like Ain O Salis are rendering a laudable service, but it is not adequate by its physical presence and very effective in terms of coverage. The same can be said about similar organizations. They have to be nearer the potential victim of violence. The law enforcing agency, local administration and local power elite will become alert by this vigilance at close quarters. Only then the deteriorating situation can improve. As for the enduring solution, the disadvantaged women should be helped to overcome the social handicap of poverty. Here, too, the NGOs have to do much more than they are doing at present.