The first day of the Bengali New Year of 1422 was the day I finally decided to stop thinking of myself as a man anymore. Why should I? My kind is the worst of all beings! On a day when each and every Bengali has the right to celebrate and start their new year with peace, love and joy, some “men” decided that they would harass women in the streets and exercise their power that has been bestowed upon them in the name of politics.
The first of Boishakh 1422 is the day I decided that I will never raise my children in a country where there are only three men who have the courage to stand up against individuals who not only think of themselves as more masculine to physically harass women and rip their clothes apart, but also take pleasure in beating up those who try to stop them from doing so.
It is not the first time this has happened in our country. Rapes and harassment of women are an everyday thing in our country nowadays, and teasing women and girls alike is a matter of joke for most “men.” Streets are not safe at all for women even during the day, because “men” are everywhere, and even on a public transport, “men” will take the slightest chance at brushing their bodies against that of a female passenger and cat-calling and what not! How sexually starved are these people that they do not have the least amount of civic sense in their minds?
And it never ends just there! Just a few hours after the incidents occurred, this wonderful gentleman posted this status on his Facebook timeline; something that summarises to this: “If women can dress as freely and openly as they want to then men deserve the right to touch them and even rape them in public as well, and if no other man is ‘man enough’ to do that then he will make sure of it by doing it himself!” This mentality was even supported by a lot of people until he deactivated his profile. Once again, the shame is on us.
A woman cannot even spend some peaceful alone time in a park because within seconds of her entering any given park in this country, there will be “men” who will try to chat her up, treat her like a desperate prostitute who probably entered that park for nothing but sex.
Without appropriate company, it is nearly impossible for a woman to go anywhere in this country without the fear of being harassed, and here we are, calling Delhi the rape capital of the world like we are any better. In my eyes, not being able to give women the least amount of respect that they deserve is kind of a rape of your own mother, sister, and daughter.
Harassment in social media is nothing new either. If you are an ex-girlfriend of some pervert and your break-up did not go well, be sure that he is about to open a fake profile in your name, possibly with photos that were not meant to be made public. You don’t even have to know a guy in order to be stalked and have your profile information abused.
Stalkers can be found everywhere. Stalking of girls and women are happening since the 80s, but what surprises me most is the stalking of underage girls, and it usually starts from public gatherings, not necessarily just Boishakhi Fair, but International Trade Fair, Ekushey Boi Mela, even at shopping malls. Many times it leads to a woman or a girl being harassed in the streets, leading to even rape.
In a country where war criminals are being brought to justice partially because of the ways in which they treated our foremothers during the liberation war, the very “men” of this country repeating what they did is sort of like showing your bottom to the judicial system and the independence that came from so much bloodshed.
What has become of humanity and respect in this country? Women are getting harassed as part of celebrations, no one is standing up to protect them but just three men, then people who are advocating for justice against such violence are being shut with threats of being murdered, is this Bangladesh?
On top of it all, authorities have already declared that there was no such incident during that day, because it is obvious that they will never be able to catch the culprits, nor will they ever be fit enough to protect the women of this country. No one knows exactly what motivated them to act this way, even after having identified the culprits who did the heinous act to spoil Pohela Boishakh once and forever, the best comeback was that of more threats of being murdered.
Although I am not that religious, but I have read a little about Qiyamah (doomsday) and I can see some of the ten minor signs of that day already happening. The part where perversion and shamelessness is taking over kindness and sanity tells me that soon we will witness more of hellish acts. And little do these minions of the Devil know that the reason why Allah has given us freewill is to use our intelligence to find out how if we keep following the Devil we will end up dragged into hell with him and he will give us the finger, without the fries and the apple pie of course. This is worth mentioning because religion to most is parallel to humanity, not that I’m saying atheists are not humane.
Coming back to the point, what anyone (regardless of gender) wears is their own business. And while a woman is free to dress how she wants to, she also has the right to roam around how she wants to, without the fear of having her clothes torn apart by “men” who think that it is the cool thing to do! If a “man” is unable to control himself in public, maybe it is the man who needs some education on how to behave and what not to do when outside their sanctum sanctorum.
We used to be a nation full of men who were ready to give their lives and take some if a mere finger was laid upon the women of our country; we must not allow that to be any different ever.
Every woman (and every person) has their right to safety on streets and public places. If things get worse, soon it will be too late for the mob to turn against the wind and maybe such perverts might end up dead from public beatings. Who knows, maybe that is what this nation needs right now?