Editorial
Another anti-poor advice
from World Bank
The World Bank has once again made an anti-people recommendation, urging the government to increase the coverage of its value added tax, as reported in New Age on Sunday. We have iterated in these columns several times that value added tax is a means of increasing the exchequer’s revenue by burdening general consumers and people at large. Even in its current state, without increasing the coverage of indirect taxes, the current military-driven interim government expects to generate 36 per cent of its tax revenue from value added taxes and only 24 per cent from income tax and corporate profits.
Such basic utilities as water supply were put under the VAT coverage in the budget ignoring the people’s basic right to this essential service. The World Bank has now upped the ante further by recommending that a number of small commercial establishments serving the poorer sections of the populace, which are currently exempted from its coverage, be included. Such a decision, as the report states quoting economists, will further increase the already exorbitant cost of living for the poor people as they will be made to bear the brunt of an increased VAT coverage.
Imposing taxes on such basic and essential services such as education and health services must not be included in the VAT net as it would not only be in violation of the state’s moral and constitutional responsibility to ensure education and health for the citizens but also penalise the common man for seeking education and health services. Inclusion of the small commercial establishments in the VAT net would also imply further burden for the people who do not have adequate sources of income at the moment, given high unemployment, high prices of essentials and economic stagnation in general. This would force a bulk of these people to earn that extra cost through unfair means which would be essentially self-defeating to the incumbents’ proclaimed agenda of eliminating corruption. This move we must stress would only entrench corruption further. Understandably, such recommendations stem from the World Bank’s pathetically anti-people stance and diabolical apathy to reduce disparity and, therefore, must be ignored by the incumbents.
We urge that basic services of the state be entirely removed from the VAT coverage to ensure better access and affordability of the people. Instead, the incumbents should concentrate on streamlining income tax and corporate tax to attain better redistribution of resources and at the same time strengthen its collection and monitoring of commercial establishments that collect indirect taxes from the consumers but do not pay the amount to the exchequer.
The Bretton Woods institutions – the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund –are rightly faced with a worldwide crisis for credibility and legitimacy of their operations. Several countries have bidden farewell to both the institutions and have embarked on a path to meaningful development and more equitable economic prosperity. Furthermore, given the increasing indebtedness of Bangladesh, we urge the incumbents to seriously reconsider their engagement with the international financial institutions.
Children in jail: Govt’s
apathy is unacceptable
When a government remains inactive to a High Court order for years and keeps mum about the plight of its young citizens, be they some sort of offenders in the eyes of the law, one cannot expect that government to uproot corruption from society or ensure the rule of law. In 2003, the High Court issued a seven-point directive to the government that juvenile delinquents should not be kept in jail and should be transferred to correction centres and other approved safe homes. In 2006, 354 children, among them 48 girls, were in different jails while the rehabilitation centres of the country remained almost empty. Again, while sections 48 and 49 of the Children Act 1974 stipulate that any child arrested for non-bailable offences should be released on bail or detained in a remand home or a place of safety, more than 2,000 children, including 188 girls, were sent to prisons in the past seven months. It is absolutely unacceptable that a government can be so apathetic to and inactive about the welfare of children.
The 57 jails that the country has have long been struggling to accommodate prisoners, the number of whom is increasing day by day, while the three state-run juvenile development centres and six safe homes remain almost vacant. The jail authorities have been demanding new prisons to be built for quite some time now. In that case, why they don’t carry out the High Court directive and shift the young inmates to rehabilitation centres and thereby ease a bit of pressure off these prisons remains a mystery.
It has been brought to the notice of the authorities concerned over and over again that prison is no place for children. Food, hygiene and sanitary conditions are absolutely horrid there. Criminal activities are carried on inside the cells often in the full knowledge of prison authorities and sometimes with the involvement of corrupt jail officials and staff. There are even allegations that illegal drugs are easily available there. And according to child experts, the company of hardcore criminals are very likely to have irreparable effects on the young detainees. While we read the reports of how terrible a place our prisons are we cannot but feel horrified imagining what these young prisoners, many of whom are not even criminals, as street children are often picked up and sent to jail, have to go through and wonder how sane and rectified they will come out.
While ignoring the High Court order and that too for such a long time, the government here is setting a very bad example. It has been long overdue that they should pay heed to the court order and make sure that no child remains in custody but is transferred to correction centres and, in the course of time, rehabilitated in society as peaceful, law-abiding citizens.
No more a peccadillo
Dismissed as a juvenile aberration, 'eve teasing' is never taken seriously by society though its perpetuation is the fundamental reason feeding gender-based prejudice. As guys throw lines at women and make comments, we forget that such behaviour often force young girls to take their own lives, writes Towheed Feroze
RUMA came to the new neighbourhood a few months ago but what had started out as a nice new urban environment has now become intolerable. And the reason is not the area but the young guys who hang around near the local general store to ogle at girls when they pass. Ruma has not heard any comment made directly at her but whenever she crosses the store, the young boys start revving up the engine of their motorbikes and often speed past her making loud noises. In truth, she would not have minded guys looking at her because being a young girl with a rational outlook she knows that guys will always look at a woman but it's the actions and their inherent messages that annoy her. She tried telling her mother but the advice she got was to ignore it.
The case of Ruma may not seem too extreme but a situation like this is faced by young women in almost all parts of the country; and since these acts of 'eve teasing' do not fall under any specific criminal act, the common advice given by adults is to disregard them. However, in many other cases, there are other remedies or solutions practised by concerned parents. Let's look at Sheuli who lives in a middle-class area. To go to college she has to walk five minutes and that journey for her is tantamount to an ordeal beyond explanation. In the beginning she had to endure proposals of love but she politely refused because being the only child she knew that she had to finish her education first and get a job to look after her mother and father. It's not that she did not like any of the guys who came up to her with a desire but reality forced her to turn them down and this was not taken in good spirits. With punctured ego the treatment turned around and thus began the throwing of obscene lines. The torture became too much and, finally, Sheuli had to consent to a guy who turned out to be the local Phensidyl dealer. Of course, he showered money on Shiuli but did she enter this relationship on her own will? Her parents advised her to accept it and be happy after all financial stability was guaranteed.
Now, in the case of Sheuli we see that she was compelled to get involved in a relationship when she was not ready and had to take steps against her will simply because the teasing had gone out of hand. Ironically, when a girl is teased in most cases no one comes to protest but, in the long run, the girl is seen as the bad element. The social response, in more cases than one, is why someone would tease you if you did not provoke it. It seems that it's the fault of the girl that she is being teased. And it's this unpardonable attitude that resulted in the death of many young girls. In 2002, Sadia, a girl of class four, jumped into a pond to save herself from local guys chasing her and drowned. In 2003 Farzana Afreen Rumu committed suicide fearing abduction by teasers. In 2006 Rumana Parvin of Savar took her own life unable to cope with regular teasing of boys and the failure of the law to protect her. The same year Rina Roy, a girl in Daniya, ended her life failing to deal with her tormentors.
Compared to cases where girls are forced to take their own lives unable to cope with such harassment, these two cases are less extreme but in no way can we say that the crime inherent in the cases above are worth overlooking. In truth, by doing that and by dismissing acts of whistling and making comments as juvenile offences we are exonerating teasing and harassment of women. In fact, unless the result of teasing is something terrible, we tend to look the other way and that is perhaps the worst way to deal with the social problem. On the one had we talk about restoration of women's rights and gender sensitivity but on the other have no scruples in saying boys at a certain age will be a little reckless. Obviously, it means that collectively we are unwilling to recognise the harmful impact of an egregious social habit. Then there is the questionable role of law. What has the law done to counter teasing of girls and women?
The booklet published by Steps Towards Development on the occasion of World Girl Child Day on September 30 informs us that the existing rule, 1860 (act 294 and 509), Dhaka Metropolitan police act, 1976 stipulates three months' or one year's imprisonment or a fine of Tk 2,000. The question is whether this law is enforced? The Women and Child Repression Act 2000 recognised 'eve teasing' as a punishable offence but through an amendment, the law was relaxed in 2003. The booklet further informs that a new clause added to the act stipulated punishment for a person provoking a woman to commit suicide on grounds of harassment or insult to human dignity. But, the purview of the 'insult to dignity' has not been outlined (Steps Towards Development).
Only law will not help unless we change our overall attitude about what is right and what is not. In our patriarchal society it is often granted that a boy at a certain age will get involved in acts that are 'naughty' and there is tacit approval for a guy winking at a girl or passing a comment. Regrettably, there is never an attempt to look at this from the other side. Is the girl enjoying this? Of course, there is a difference between a civilised complement and a lewd remark and the emotions that the two approaches create are radically opposite. A proper approach can often win a woman, although not all the time, but an improper one never will. Yet, often there is a tendency to resort to the latter. Sociologists contend that this is because there are traces in us that silently but unmistakably tell us to engage in acts that intimidate women. To find the root of this we must look at the social setting where women have always been treated as inferior, as the one whose place is at home and with household chores. Perhaps, the reason why 'eve teasing' is rare in many developed countries is because they are more adapted to treating women as equals. As we realise that, we understand that changes will come as we become more liberal and acknowledge women as equal social partners.
To end, we need to address this issue in the national as well as in the family levels because unless the overall psyche is changed, 'eve teasing' and harassment of women will never end. The law has to extend a hand, too. If a girl complains to the police, the law must act without relegating it as a minor offence. Maybe, gender-based issues need to be included in our school curriculum. Not as sermons but through everyday life-related examples. Of late, phone companies have begun showing ads that publicise the product as well as relaying a message to the young. Maybe, there should be an ad touching the matter of 'eve teasing.' The theme can be based on the idea that respect can get a guy a girl's phone number, teasing and harassment cannot.
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