Whatever the provocation, there can never be any excuse for committing violence upon a citizen. Alarmingly, we seem to be experiencing a resurgence of this terrible trend.
On Thursday, a 50-year-old man was beaten to death in Lalmonirhat for allegedly hurting people’s religious sentiments. The abuse did not end with the man’s death -- the mob subsequently took his body out to the highway and set it on fire. What makes the case all the more disturbing is the fact that this so-called offender was actually known to be fairly religious. Clearly, not even piety can save one from such a gruesome fate.
This is not an isolated incident, but a pattern of violence and lawlessness around the country: One day later, on Friday, a freedom fighter was beaten to death during an arbitration session in Tangail. The 65-year-old was beaten so badly that he succumbed to his injuries by the time he was taken to the hospital. The irony of the situation is that an arbitration session turned into an act of senseless, random violence -- the opposite of what such things are meant to be, in theory.
Let us be clear: Such violence all around us, entirely outside the scope of the law, speaks not only of a weakness in our institutions, but also of a deep sickness in our society, whereby people think violence can solve problems. Many innocent persons have met horrible fates at the hands of angry mobs due to this toxic culture.
Even in cases where the victims are not completely blameless, such barbarity undermines the rule of law, and makes a mockery of our justice system.
But enough is enough: The government needs to act swiftly and harshly to make one thing clear -- we live in a society of laws, and no one can be allowed to take the law into their own hands.
