Editorial
Whither safety of the common man?
Address all aspects of the issue
Hardly had a day passed in the last several weeks without reports appearing in the media of incidents of people falling victims to attacks by criminals. The worrisome aspect is that these killings resulted from petty matters that should have been solved in a more urbane manner. Only the other day two businessmen were killed because of disputes emerging out, ostensibly, of unfulfilled obligation of one party or the other. It seems that resorting to violence and killing have become the preferred arbiter of disputes.
There are two distinct aspects to the issue as we see it. On the one hand these incidents speak of several things about our society while on the other these expose the functioning of the law enforcing agencies in as much as their capacity in preventing these from taking place is concerned.
It must surely be cause of concern to the society at large that people have been pushed to the edge of despondency where the cost of human lives count for very little when it comes to settling disputes. Otherwise it is very difficult to rationalise, as had happened in the above mentioned incident, where two businessmen were killed following disagreement over the rent of a car-for-rent owned by one of the two victims. It seems rather weird but weird events occurring repeatedly perhaps expose a pattern of deranged behaviour symptomatic of the stress that the society is passing through. It is a malaise that we must address with all earnestness. It is perhaps also a measure of people's lack of faith in the ability of the legal system to redress their grievances.
The other disquieting aspect of the matter is that the killings are happening at a time when there is an ongoing anti-crime drive; in which to date more than ten thousand have been arrested. And reportedly, one of the alleged killers has a criminal record. One would also like to ask as to where the police was all the while when the violence was taking place. The incident had all the hallmarks of a gang warfare and one feels that had the police been more alert and had a good surveillance mechanism it could well have preempted the incident -- lives could have been saved.
While it may take some time to purge the societal illness, the preventive aspect must be addressed by the law enforcing agencies. Alertness, upgrading of surveillance mechanism and maintenance of their visible presence in violence prone areas could be handy means to start with.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments